t^^»«££tftititi£&^K^M&&tftiAttltttttttt^' ' 


LINTON  STEPHENS. 


^.^^/ 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


LINTON  STEPHENS, 

( Late  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia,) 


CONTAINING   A   SELECTION   OF   HIS 


LETTERS,  SPEECHES,  STATE  PAPERS,  ETC. 


EDITED  BY 

JAMES   D.   WADDELL. 


1  Heu  !  quanto  minus  est  cum  reliquis 
Versari  quam  tui  meminisse" — SHENSTONE. 


ATLANTA,  GEORGIA: 
DODSON    &    SCOTT — NO.    38    BROAD    STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877, 

By  JAMES  I).  WADDELL, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


(Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia,) 

WHO  NOW  SO  WORTHILY  ADORNS  THE    SEAT  ON  THAT  HIGH 
TRIBUNAL  TO  WHICH 

LINTON    STEPHENS, 

FOR    A    BRIEF    TERM,    IMPARTED    SPLENDID    ILLUSTRATION, 

THESE  UNPRETENDING  PAGES  ARE  RESPECTFULLY 
AND 


THERE  WOULD  SEEM  TO  BE  FITNESS,  IN  THIS  HUMBLE  WAY, 

IN  LINKING  THE  NAME  OF  THE  ONE  WITH 

THE  MEMORY  OF  THE 

OTHER. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  life  of  LINTON  STEPHENS  was  one  of  character  rather 
than  of  incident — more  the  life  of  a  thinker  than  an  actor 
upon  the  stage  of  human  affairs.  He  chose  to  be  a  spec- 
tator of  passing  events,  and  was  content  to  weigh  their  sig- 
nificance and  watch  their  succession  through  the  "loopholes 
of  retreat,"  so  as  not  "to  feel  the  pressure  of  the  crowd." 
He  had  little  relish  for  the  hot  arena  of  the  world-strife. 
The  mild  dignity  that  environs  the  good  citizen  was  more 
beautiful  and  more  attractive  in  his  eyes,  and  more  grateful 
to  his  tastes  and  habitudes,  than  "the  applause  of  listening 
senates,"  or  the  victor's  wreath  of  laurel.  The  blaze  of 
public  notoriety  he  shunned.  He  shrunk  from  all  manner 
of  self-exposition  or  display.  Vain-glory  was  not  among 
the  imperfections  of  his  nature.  He  was  perfectly  satisfied 
with  knowing  the  truth  of  anything,  or  any  fact,  himself — 
uncaring  whether  the  outside  world  appreciated  his  knowl- 
edge thereof  or  not;  hence,  he  had  no  ambition  to  make 
history:  he  was  content  to  study  its  lessons,  interpret  its 
facts,  and  learn  wisdom  from  its  teachings.  Although  it 
was  impossible  for  a  man  of  the  parts  he  had,  not  to  be 
conspicuous  among  men ;  and  although  his  opinions  upon 
every  subject — large  enough  to  agitate  a  free  people — were 
anxiously  sought  after,  impatiently  waited  for,  and  eagerly 
canvassed,  yet  he  never  held,  nor — left  to  his  own  volition — 
ever  aspired  to  hold,  high  political  station.  For  this  rea- 
son, the  general  reader  of  these  pages  will  remark  the  lack- 
ing, somewhat,  of  that  significance  of  events  in  the  story 
of  his  life  which  imparts  the  chief  interest,  attraction,  and 
charm  to  biography. 


LINTON    STEPHENS. 


THE  paternal  grandfather  of  Lin  ton  Stephens  was  Alex- 
ander Stephens,  an  Englishman  by  birth.  He  was  scarcely 
nineteen  years  of  age  when  the  affair  of  1/45  transpired  ; 
yet,  young  as  he  was,  he  ardently  espoused  the  cause  of 
Charles  Edward,  "the  Young  Chevalier,"  as  he  was  called. 
When  fate  frowned  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  "  Pretender's 
Son,"  the  vigilance  and  the  vengeance  of  exasperated 
power  were  eluded  by  seeking  refuge  in  America.  He  at 
first  found  shelter  and  security  among  the  Shawnee  Indians 
in  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania.  This  was  in  the  year  1746. 
How  long  he  remained  among  that  tribe  is  not  definitely 
known — probably  until  near  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  Eifty  years  had  rolled  over  his  head,  when 
the  curtain  rose  upon  that  drama,  "yet  was  his  eye  not 
dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated."  He  early  and  eagerly 
embarked  in  the  Colonial  struggle  for  independence.  We 
may  imagine  that  the  memory  of  wrongs,  real  or  supposed, 
which  he  had  suffered  in  his  native  land,  stimulated  the  zeal 
and  nerved  the  arm  of  the  exile  in  a  cause  which  his  judg- 
ment, without  such  incentive  already  approved  as  just.  He 
enlisted  as  a  private,  and  when  Independence  was  achieved, 
his  military  rank  was  that  of  Captain  in  the  Pennsylvania 
forces. 

Captain  Stephens  seems  to  have  been  of  the  class  of 
men — numerous  enough  in  his  day,  now  almost  extinct — 
that  "hate  ease,"  are  full  of  enterprise,  fond  of  adven- 


2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

turc,  restless,  always  moving,  if  not  always  advancing. 
Before  the  close  of  the  war,  he  married  Catharine,  daughter 
of  Andrew  Raskins,  a  gentleman  of  repute  and  the  wealthy 
proprietor  of  what  was  then,  and  for  years  afterwards, 
known  as  Raskins'  Ferry,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  and  Juniata  rivers.  The  marriage  seems  to  have 
been  displeasing  to  the  father-in-law — for  what  reason  we 
cannot  conjecture,  unless  it  was,  that  he  looked  upon  his 
son-in-law  as  a  "Soldier  of  fortune,"  bred,  as  he  perhaps 
imagined,  in  the  Dalgetty  school,  and  unworthy  of  matri- 
monial alliance  with  a  prospective  heiress,  who  should  count 
her  possessions  by  so  many  thousands.  Re  that  as  it  may, 
after  the  consummation  of  the  marriage,  the  daughter  was 
discarded  ;  and  Captain  Stephens,  some  time  after  the  war, 
and  after  all  attempts  at  reconciliation  had  proved  to  be  una- 
vailing, emigrated  to  Georgia,  in  1795,  bringing  along  with 
him  little  other  treasure  than  a  wife,  a  large  number  of 
children,  and  an  unbroken  spirit.  He  first  pitched  his  tent 
in  Elbert  count}-,  but  finally  settled  in  \Yilkes,  now  Talia- 
ferro  count}',  where  he  died  in  1813.  He  lived  to  the  pa- 
triarchal age  of  eighty-seven,  and  his  remains  lie  entombed 
but  a  little  way  distant  from  the  grave-yard  of  the  old 
homestead. 

Andrew  Raskins  Stephens,  son  of  Alexander,  was  born 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1/83.  Me  was 
twelve  years  old  when  his  father  moved  to  Georgia.  Fa- 
cilities for  academical  instruction  were  limited  and  scant 
throughout  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  at  that  day.  Liberal 
education  was  the  rare  distinction  of  the  children  of  afflu- 
ence only.  Xot  to  mention  board-bills  and  traveling  ex- 
penses, few  could  command  means  wherewith  to  meet  the 
tuition  fees  of  colleges  and  schools  of  learning  in  distant 
and  more  highly  favored  sections  of  the  country.  Andrew, 
born  to  no  patrimony,  shared  the  common  fate  of  other 
poor  boys  of  the  time  and  neighborhood.  The  instruction 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  3 

doled  out  to  him  must  have  been  essentially  rudimental  in 
kind,  variety  and  degree.  Indeed,  the  scholastic  acquisitions 
of  an  alumnus  of  an  institution,  whose  curriculum  comprised 
reading,  writing  and  cyphering,  and  which  nothing  but  the 
inexorable  exigence  of  such  a  state  of  society  could  create 
or  would  tolerate — the  ' '  Old  Field  School  " — could  scarcely 
have  been  grammatical,  much  less  literary.  But  nature  had 
dealt  more  generously  with  the  boy  than  fortune.  lie  was 
endowed  with  uncommon  intellectual  faculties ;  he  had 
sound  practical  judgment;  he  was  a  safe  counselor,  saga- 
cious, self-reliant,  candid  and  courageous.  He  was  held  in 
high  estimation  as  one  of  the  "  solid  men"  of  the  commu- 
nity— a  man  of  inflexible  integrity  and  great  weight  of 
character.  He  had  large  influence  over  the  opinions  and 
conduct  of  his  neighbors  ;  the}'  counseled  with  him  on  mat- 
ters of  business,  unbosomed  their  cares  and  vexations  to  him  ; 
he  surveyed  their  lands  for  them  ;  defined  the  metes  and 
bounds  thereof;  and  he  was  the  common  arbiter  who  set- 
tled their  differences  and  disputes,  and  from  his  decision 
there  was  seldom  any  appeal.  He  was  twice  married:  first 
in  1807  to  Margaret,  daughter  of  Aaron  Gricr  and  sister  of 
the  late  Robert  Grier,  whose  name  is  yet  a  household  word 
throughout  our  Southern  States.* 

It  is  among  the  traditions  of  the  neighborhood,  wherein 
she  dwelt  and  died,  that  Mrs.  Stephens  was  a  woman  of 
capital  sense  and  fair  culture  ;  remarkable  for  independence 
of  thought;  devoted  to  domestic  pursuits;  of  cheerful, 
amiable  temper,  and  unobtrusive,  elevated  piety  Three 
children  only  of  this  marriage  survived  infancy.  These 
were  a  daughter,  Mary,  the  eldest;  Aaron  Grier,  the  next, 
and  Alexander  H.,  the  youngest,  who  was  born  February 
i  ith,  1812.  In  1814,  Mr.  Stephens  married,  in  second 


s"  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  "  Grier's  Almanac"  hung  beside  the 
chimney-piece  in  almost  every  house  in  the  Southern  States,  wherein  a 
copy  of  the  Bible  could  be  found.  The  late  R.  C.  Grier,  of  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  the  United  States,  was  his  kinsman. 


4  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

nuptials,  Matilda  S. ,  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Lindsay,  of 
Wilkes  county.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  He  bore 
a  conspicuous  part  in  the  struggle  for  Independence,  rose 
to  the  rank  of  Colonel  in  the  Georgia  forces,  and  was  es- 
teemed a  gallant  officer,  and  wary,  skillful  commander.  He 
lost  his  sword-hand  in  battle,  and  in  consequence  of  wear- 
ing a  covering  of  silver  over  the  stump,  he  acquired  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Old  Silver-fist. "  After  the  war,  he  grew  to 
be  rich  in  this  world's  goods,  and,  at  one  time,  was  the 
owner  of  valuable  landed  estates  on  Little  river,  near  Phil- 
lips' Bridge  ;  but  good  fortune  finally  forsook  him  ;  he  be- 
came involved  in  debt  by  security,  and  died  leaving  his  es- 
tate very  much  reduced.  He  had  eight  children,  and  the 
patrimony,  when  divided  among  them,  amounted  only  to 
about  six  or  seven  hundred  dollars  to  each.  He  was  re- 
puted to  be  a  man  of  strong  mind,  sterling  honesty,  un- 
bending will,  stormy  passions  ;  the  concurrent  testimony  of 
all  the  family  traditions  is,  that  he  was  ardent  in  friendships, 
implacable  in  hate,  fond  of  good  cheer,  frank,  fearless  and 
generous  to  a  fault.  Some  of  these  characteristics  the 
daughter,  Matilda,  inherited.  The  basis  of  her  intellectual 
character  was  good  sense  ;  the  basis  of  her  moral  character 
was  truth  ;  her  manners  were  dignified  ;  her  disposition  was 
quiet  and  cheerful,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  social  life,  she 
was  exemplary  and  amiable.  Five  children  were  born  of 
the  second  wife,  but  only  three  lived  to  attain  majority. 
The  eldest,  John  Lindsay  Stephens,  was  a  prominent  lawyer 
in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  who  died  in  his  prime. 
The  next  was  Catharine  R.,  now  also  deceased.  The 
youngest  was 

LIXTOX  STKPHKNS, 

the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  born  at  the  old  home- 
stead, some  two  miles  northeast  of  Crawfordville,  on  the 
first  day  of  July,  1823.  It  has  been  seen  that  English, 
Irish  and  Scotch  blood  were  commingled  in  his  veins.  The 


JUDGE    LIXTON    STEPHENS.  5 

remaining  narrative  of  his  life  will  show  that  each  separate 
current  asserted  its  peculiar  quality  and  power  in  the  con- 
formation of  a  character  which  itself  avouched  the  blended 
extraction.  For  we  shall  see  that  he  had  the  sturdy  com- 
mon sense,  the  iron  will,  the  unquailing  courage  refined  by 
chivalry  of  Hampden ;  the  emotional  nature,  the  ardent  af- 
fections, the  unselfish  devotion,  the  noble  enthusiasm  of 
Grattan ;  the  subtle  discrimination,  the  cautious  circum- 
spection and  metaphysical  turn  of  the 'Scotch  mind,  as  ex- 
emplified in  Reid  or  Stewart. 

His  father  died  on  the  /th  of  May,  1826,  and  his  mother 
died  on  the  I4th  of  the  same  month,  just  seven  clays  after,  ' 
thus  leaving  him  a  complete  orphan  before  he  was  quite 
three  years  old.  At  this  time,  the  surviving  children  con- 
sisted of  Aaron  G.  and  Alexander  H.,  by  the  first  wife, 
and  John  L. ,  Catharine  B.  and  Linton  by  the  second.  The 
family,  of  course,  had  to  be  broken  up.  The  estate  went 
into  administration,  and  the  children  went  to  live  with  their 
kin  on  the  side  of  their  respective  mothers.  Aaron  G. 
and  Alexander  H.,  to  their  uncle's,  Colonel  Aaron  Grier, 
of  Warren  county,  who  became  their  guardian.  Linton 
was  committed  to  his  grandmother  and  a  maiden  aunt  on 
his  mother's  side,  where  he  remained  for  nearly  four  years. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  a  female  friend  pre- 
sents a  touching  and  lively  picture  of  the  boy  and  his  sur- 
roundings during  this  period. 

His  aunt  then  lived  about  a  mile  from  Crawfordville  : 

MAY  30,  1866. 

The  foundation  of  all  my  ideas  of  friendship  was  laid  in 
the  school  of  solitude.  It  came  to  me  in  the  form  of  a 
want,  not  a  possession.  The  first  recollection  I  have  of 
myself,  I  was  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  three  years,  parcelled 
out,  one  by  myself,  in  the  distribution  of  the  children 
among  different  relations  at  the  sad  breaking-up  of  my 


6  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

father's  household.  My  memory  goes  distinctly  back  to 
that  early  period  of  my  life.  My  childhood  was  without 
companionship,  and  was  felt  to  be  so  then.  I  had  my  child- 
ish griefs  and  pains,,  but  there  was  nobody  to  whom  I  could 
say  "I  suffer;"  nobody  to  whom  I  could  say  "1  have  suf- 
fered." In  the  main,  however,  the  world  seemed  very  bright 
and  beautiful  to  me — abounding  almost  in  enchantments. 
I  well  remember  the  charms  which  nature  used  to  have  for 
me  in  those  days.  The  woods,  the  streams,  the  skies,  the 
birds,  the  luscious  fruits,  the  sweet-scented  flowers,  the 
green  sward  in  front  of  the  door,  the  waving  and  murmur- 
ing forest  of  pines  hard  by — the  whole  glorious  creation  as 
it  unfolded  itself  to  my  young  soul.  I  remember  one  day 
I  was  so  full  of  the  brightness  and  beauty  of  the  world  that 
I  ran  to  my  aunt  to  know  how  I  ever  had  come  into  it. 
That  thought  had  never  got  into  my  head  before.  1'Jiat  I 
could  and  did  ask  her;  but  it  did  not  occur  to  me  to  tell  her 
how  beautiful  it  all  was  to  me — to  ask  her  to  share  with  me 
in  my  enjoyment  of  it  all.  But  there  was  one  short  and 
bright  companionship  which  crossed  my  path  in  those  days. 
I  was  six  years  old  then.  It  came  in  the  form  of  a  little 
girl  named  Cornelia  Hays,  who  came  and  spent  a  week — a 
whole  week — at  my  aunt's.  How  she  happened  to  come 
there  I  do  not  recollect ;  nor  can  I  even  now  give  a  rational 
conjecture  on  the  subject;  for  I  was  the  only  child  on  the 
place,  and  I  can  hardly  suppose  that  a  little  girl  came  as  a 
playmate  for  a  little  boy.  However  that  ma}*  have  been, 
she  was  a  playmate;  and  I  thought  a  glorious  one.  She 
was  a  little  older  than  I,  and  quite  pretty,  as  I  thought  then, 
and  still  think  from  my  present  recollection  of  her  appear- 
ance. It  was  in  the  time  of  the  clog-woods  and  honey- 
suckles. How  I  did  delight  to  climb  the  trees  and  bring 
down  these  flowers,  and  lay  them  at  the  feet  of  my  little 
queen,  or  put  them  into  her  hands,  and  weave  some  of 
them  into  her  hair!  I  loved  to  serve  as  her  tiring-maid. 
And  she?  She  seemed  to  enter  into  the  spirit  df  it  all.  I 
remember  that  she  particular!}'  enjoyed  a  slide  down  a  very 
steep  hill,  which  terminated  at  the  bottom  in  a  sand  bank 
bordering  "the  spring  branch;"  I  found  a  smooth  and 
straight  track  down  this  descent,  and  conceived  the  idea  of 
running  my  "slide"  down  it.  If  you  don't  know  what  a 
boy's  slide  is,  you  can  at  least  form  a  sufficient  conception 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  7 

of  it  from  its  name.  It  is  a  vehicle  which  moves  in  the 
manner  indicated  by  its  name.  She  and  I,  seated  in  tin's 
rude  carriage,  and  with  arms  locked  around  each  other  for 
mutual  support  during  the  giddy  flight,  made  the  descent 
in  a  style  which  was  ecstatic  to  such  children  as  we  were. 
On  getting  to  the  .bottom,  I  would  shoulder  the  little  carri- 
age, and  toil  with  it  back  to  the  top  again  for  a  repetition 
of  the  glorious  fun.  Well,  that  little  witch  got  all  of  my 
thoughts  out  of  me  in  that  one  week.  It  was  so  delightful, 
so  charming,  to  tell  her  everything.  I  do  not  know  what 
has  become  of  Cornelia  Hays  in  the  long  and  terrible  years 
which  have  succeeded  that  one  bright  week.  I  have  often 
wondered  whether  she  lives,  and  remembers  that  week  as 
I  do.  I  scarcely  think  so,  however,  for  such  companion- 
ship was  an  every-day  thing  to  her  ;  while  to  me  it  was  an 
oasis  in  a  threat  desert. 


During  the  year  1830,  the  administration  of  the  estate  of 
his  father  was  wound  up.  The  lands  had  been  sold,  and 
the  servants  apportioned  among  the  heirs.  The  patrimony 
of  each  child  was  found  to  be  four  hundred  and  forty-four 
dollars.  John  W.  Lindsay,  his  maternal  uncle,  now  be- 
came Linton's  guardian.  Mr.  Lindsay,  vr'ho  lived  in  LTp- 
son  at  the  time,  removed  the  ward  and  his  effects  to  that 
count}'.  The  residence  was  not  far  from  Union  Hill. 
There  Linton  first  went  to  school.  His  teacher  was  Master 
Strange — "  a  good  English  scholar" — as  the  phrase  then 
was,  by  which  is  implied  that  he  was  sufficiently  familiar 
with  the  elementary  branches  of  a  purely  English  educa- 
tion, and  quite  equal  to  the  office  of  instruction  therein, 
to  wit :  reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  grammar.  The 
school  was  distant  two  miles  from  the  house  of  his  uncle  ; 
the  scholastic  term  extended  through  the  winter  months 
only,  and  having  to  go  and  return  on  foot,  it  is  likely  the 
state  of  the  weather  and  roads  interrupted  the  regularity  of 
his  attendance.  In  1836,  he  was  entered  as  a  pupil  in  the  . 
academy  at  Culloden,  whereof  Mr.  Ward  Bullard  was  prin- 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

cipal.*  There  his  stay  was  for  about  one  year  only,  but 
the  influences  over  him  were  salutary.  In  the  autumn  of 
the  following  year,  he  was  transferred  to  the  guardianship 
of  his  brother,  the  Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  and  took 
up  his  abode  at  Crawfordville.  Then  and  there  it  was  "  his 
youth  awoke  first  and  fully  to  the  life  of  the  mind. "  Colonel 
Simpson  Fouche,  a  gentleman  of  ripe  scholarly  attainments 
and  accomplishments,  and  one  of  the  best  educators  of 
youth  the  century  has  produced,  was  at  the  head  of  a  large 
and  excellent  school  at.  Crawfordville.  Under  his  tuition 
young  Stephens  was  prepared  for  admission  to  college. 
The  following  letter  from  Colonel  Fouche  furnishes  an  in- 
teresting account  of  the  deportment,  progress  and  promise 
of  the  pupil  : 

JACKSONVILLE,  ALA.,  September  26,   1873. 

MY  DKAR  SIR — Your  letter  of  the  iSth  instant,  asking 
for  my  reminiscences  of  the  late  Judge  Linton  Stephens, 
\vas  received  some  days  ago  at  Rome,  Georgia. 

I  had  charge  of  the  academy  at  Crawfordville  in  the  year 
1838.  The  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  was  very  large, 
approaching  very  near  to  one  hundred.  Two  pupils  were 
entered  by  the  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens,  one  of  them  his 
brother  Linton,  then  a  youth  of  some  fourteen  or  sixteen 
years  of  age,  as  nearly  as  I  can  judge.  I  had  been  engaged 
in  teaching  for  a  number  of  years,  at  Washington  in  Wilkes 
county,  and  at  Powellton  in  Hancock — having  generally, 
especially  at  the  latter  place,  a  large  number  of  pupils,  and 
laboring  very  earnestly  and  diligently;  so  that  the  manage- 
ment of  the  very  large  school  at  Crawfordville,  with  but 
little  assistance,  was  a  very  heavy  task — particularly  as  the 
youths  of  that  place  were  pretty  wild,  and  difficult  to  bring 

*  It  is  a  feather  in  Mr.  Milliard's  cap  that  so  many  of  his  pupils  be- 
came distinguished  in  after  life.  Among  the  contemporaries  of  Stephens 
at  that  school  were  the  present  (Governor  of  Georgia,  |ames  M.  Smith; 
United  States  Senator,  Thomas  M.  Norwood,  etc.  ;  Robert  P.  Trippe,  As- 
sociate fustice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  preceded  him  in  the  academy  by  a 
year  or  two  only. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  9 

under  proper  discipline.  Young  Stephens  was  thus,  at  a 
critical  age,  subjected  to  all  the  seductive  influences  and 
temptations  usually  employed  by  a  crowd  of  thoughtless 
associates,  strongly  inclined  to  idleness  and  mischief. 

Yet  he  was  regular  and  punctual  in  attendance,  always 
blameless  and  manly  in  deportment,  diligent  and  successful 
in  study.  Indeed,  so  uniformly  correct  and  industrious  was 
he,  that  I  cannot  now  remember,  nor  do  I  believe  that  I 
ever  had  occasion,  for  the  slightest  reproof  of  him,  for  any 
error  in  deportment  or  failure  in  any  point  of  duty,  either 
in  school  or  out  of  it.  His  progress  in  every  branch  of 
learning  which  he  was  then  pursuing  was  what  might  have 
been  expected  from  a  youth  of  fine  natural  abilities,  coupled 
with  habits  so  exemplary.  It  was  not  only  rapid,  but 
thoroughly  accurate  and  scholarly.  If  you  ever  taught,  you 
can  understand  me  when  I  say,  that  instruction  to  sucJi  a 
pupil  is  no  task,  but  a  positive  pleasure.  The  respectful  re- 
membrance and  intelligent  testimonial  of  such  a  pupil  are 
among  the  most  grateful  rewards  of  a  faithful  teacher. 

During  a  very  long  career  as  a  teacher,  I  can  recall  to 
mind  no  pupil  who  excelled — few  who  equalled — him  in  all 
the  characteristics,  moral  and  intellectual,  of  a  thoroughly 
good  pupil. 

He  was  not  of  the  number  of  those  "  born  to  greatness," 
nor  yet  of  those  who  "  have  greatness  thrust  upon  them," 
but  of  that  better  class  who  "achieve  greatness"  by  their 
own  manly  efforts. 

Such  are  my  reminiscences  of  Judge  Stephens.  If  you 
consider  them  of  any  worth,  use  them. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

S.   FOUCHE. 

In  after  life,  when  he  had  won  his  way  to  honorable  fame — 
"greatness  achieved  " — he  loved  to  recur  to  those  privi- 
leged days  and  to  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the  valu- 
able offices  of  his  academic  mentor.  But  at  this,  the  form- 
ative period  of  his  life,  there  was  another  influence  over 
him,  stronger  and  greater  than  any  other  and  all  other  ex- 
traneous ones,  in  giving  bent  to  his  tastes  and  mould  to  his 
whole  character — intellectual,  moral  and  social.  It  was  the 


IO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

influence  of  his  brother — enforced  and  energized  alike  by 
precept  and  example.  Under  that  influence,  theories  of 
mind,  of  philosophy,  of  ethics,  of  religion,  \vere  discussed 
and  embraced  ;  the  facts  of  history  accepted  ;  the  real'aims 
of  life  interpreted,  and  the  high  lessons  of  duty  studied, 
learned  and  practiced. 

In  August,  1839,  he  was  matriculated  a  freshman  of  the 
University  of  Georgia,  and  at  the  end  of  the  full  term  of 
four  years  was  graduated  with  the  first  honor,  sohts,  in  a  large 
class  of  gifted  competitors.  Among  them  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Reverend  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  D.D.,  LL.  D..  Hon- 
orable Edward  H.  Pottle,  General  L.  J.  Gartrcll,  William 
Lundy,  Ksq.,  the  late  John  L.  Bird*,  and  others  who  after- 
wards achieved  honorable  distinction  in  the  various  fields  of 
labor  and  life. 

The  universal  testimony  is  that  his  college-life  was  marked 
by  diligent  and  assiduous  studies,  outside  as  well  as  inside 
of  the  curriculum,  by  exemplary  deportment,  by  uniform 
civility  to  the  Faculty  of  Instructors,  and  by  respectful  ob- 
servance of  law.  The  single  instance  of  a  fine  having  been 
imposed  upon  him,  throughout  the  whole  term  of  his  four 

*  ISird  was  the  cousin  of  Stephens.  He  was  educated  by  the  lion.  A. 
II.  Stephens — one  of  a  large  number,  who  was  the  favored  recipient  of 
the  like  benefaction  from  the  same  generous  hand.  Perhaps  no  Ameri- 
can oi  the  living,  or  of  the  dead,  lias  so  liberally  aided  indigent  and  de- 
serving young  men  to  defray  their  educational  expenses  as  the  "Sage  of 
Liberty  Hall;"  certainly  none,  when  his  pecuniary  means — competent 
enough  for  his  own  wants,  but  never  affluent — are  taken  into  account. 
]>ird  had  rare  genius  ;  was  full  of  fun  and  lit'ii-hoiinc  and  there  were 
mixed  in  him  the  elements  of  a  successful  popular  leader.  He  chose  the 
profession  of  law,  and  shortly  after  admission  to  the  bar,  was  elected  to 
the  office  of  State  Senator.  He  had  little  relish  for  the  <(Ov/</;v;r  of  legis- 
lation— as  little  as  the  Arabian  racer  may  be  imagined  to  have  lor  the 
dray — yet,  he  conscientiously  performed  the  irksome  work  of  the  commit- 
tee-room. On  the  floor,  he  rose  to  the  foremost  rank  of  debaters  in  the 
Cieorgia  Senate,  at  a  time  "when  there  were  giants  in  ihe  land/'  lie 
fell  a  victim  of  pulmonary  consumption  just  as  the  auroral  flush  was 
brightening  into  the  light  of  unclouded  day. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  I 

years'  residence  at  the  University,  was  levied  for  the  "white 
sin"  of  "playing  the  flute  during  study  hours."  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Phi  Kappa  Society — 

"A  school  wherein  every  principle 

Tending  to  honor  is  taught,  if  followed." 

There  he  won  his  earliest  laurels  ;  it  was  the  theater  of 
his  young  renown  ;  and  there  he  first  gave  earnest  of  the 
marvelous  perfection  which  he  afterwards  attained  in  the 
practice  of  forensic  debate. 

Of  this  period  of  his  life,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Curry  writes: 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  December  21,  1873. 

DEAR  SIR — In  fulfillment  of  my  promise  to  give  you  some 
reminiscences  of  the  college-life  of  Lintdn  Stephens,  I  state 
that  we  entered  Franklin  College  in  August,  1839,  anc^  con~ 
tinned  fellow-students  until  August,  1843,  ^'hen  we  gradu- 
ated. Having  been  class-mates  and  fellow-members  of  the 
Phi  Kappa  Society  for  four  years,  I  had  unusual  opportu- 
nities for  knowing  him  very  intimately. 

As  a  student,  he  was  scrupulously  attentive  to  his  duties. 
His  habits  were  correct,  methodical,  exemplary.  He  was 
too  diligent  to  give  much  time  to  social  pleasures,  and, 
therefore,  the  circle  of  his  intimate  companions  was  not 
large.  By  uprightness,  frankness,  conscientiousness,  and 
gentlemanly  bearing,  he  secured  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  all  his  fellow-students.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  instance 
of  failure  in  his  recitations.  He  excelled  in  all  departments, 
and  the  college  records,  if  preserved,  will  show  that  he  in- 
variably received  the  highest  marks  in  all  his  monthly  re- 
ports. \Yhen  the  faculty,  at  his  graduation,  awarded  to 
him  the  highest  honor,  they  only  gave  official  certainty  to 
the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  students.  In  the  Literary 
Society,  Linton  took  an  active  part.  His  speeches  were 
the  fruits  of  accurate  reading  and  careful  meditation,  and 
were  rather  characterized  by  fullness  of  information  and 
closeness  of  reasoning  than  by  brilliancy  or  eloquence.  To 
have  him  on  a  particular  side  of  a  question  was,  in  the  later 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

days  of  his  college-life,  the  earnest  of  victory.  Sometimes, 
when  aroused,  he  displayed  vehemence  and  power.  Fie 
hated  sham  and  deception,  and  dealt  honestly  with  his  own 
mind.  In  the  Society,  he  gave  promise  of  the  judicial  fair- 
ness, the  logical  acumen,  the  breadth  of  view,  and  the  firm 
adherence  to  principle,  which  so  distinguished  him  in  his 
brief  and  useful  career.  Widely  different  as  were  T.  R.  R. 
Cobb  and  Linton  Stephens,  I  never  knew  two  young  men, 
whose  college  lives  so  surely  gave  promise  of  future  useful- 
ness and  distinction. 

Yours,  truly, 

J.  L.  M.  CURRY. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Judge  William  Lundy, 
another  class-mate,  for  the  following  interesting  reminis- 
cences : 

MACON,  October  6,  1873. 

DEAR  COLONEL — In  compliance  with  promise,  I  herewith 
transmit  some  reminiscences  of  the  late  Judge  Linton  Ste- 
phens, and  my  "  impressions  of  the  man,  particularly  such 
as  cover  his  college-life  and  relate  to  the  formative  period 
of  his  character."  At  the  outset,  a  remark  occurs  to  me, 
which  I  made  to  a  gentleman,  with  whom  I  was  walking, 
when  we  met  and  exchanged  salutations  with  Judge  Ste- 
phens, in  the  city  of  Atlanta,  some  two  or  three  years  ago: 
"He  has  not  changed,  save  that  time  has  robbed  his  face 
a  little  of  its  freshness,  and  the  silvery  tracings  are  visible 
upon  the  dark  locks  of  his  hair,"  which  then  had  been  per- 
mitted to  grow  to  an  unusual  length.  It  should  be  pre- 
mised, however,  that  I  did  not  know  Mr.  Stephens  during 
the  earlier  part  of  his  college  course.  I  was  not  with  him 
to  share  the  troubles  of  the  timid  and  often  persecuted 
Freshman.  I  never  witnessed  any  of  his  encounters  as 
Sophomore,  with  the  assumptions  and  arrogance  of  the 
more  advanced  classes — at  that  period  when  self-reliance 
(often  miscalled  self-sufficiency)  begins  to  take  deep  root, 
and  prepares  the  boy  for  the  storms  which  await  him  in 
after  life. 

Leaving  Mercer  University,  Junior,  half-advanced,  I  ma- 
triculated at  Franklin  College  in  January,  1842.  Soon  after 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  13 

my  arrival,  I  met  an  old  college  friend,  named  Bailey,  who 
hailed  from  South  Carolina,  and  who  had  preceded  me  suf- 
ficiently long  to  become  familiar  with  our  new  surroundings. 
With  him  the  following  colloquy  took  place:  "  Dr.  Church* 
informs  me  that  you  have  stood  your  examination  and 
found  your  same  class?  '  Yes ;  it  is  a  good  class ;  there  are 
some  splendid  fellows  in  it.'  'Name  some  of  the  most 
prominent.'  'There  arc  Tom  White,  of  Elbert;  Lafayette 
Lamar  and  Jabe  Curry,  of  Lincoln,  etc.,  but  Linton  Ste- 
phens is  looked  upon  as  the  prospective  first-honor  man.' 
'Who  is  Linton  Stephens?'  '  He  is  from  Taliaferro,  and 
brother  of  the  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens.'  I  ventured  to  sug- 
gest that  the  reputation  of  the  distinguished  statesman, 
who  even  then  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  brightest  lumin- 
aries in  the  South,  may  have  had  undue  influence  in  giving 
prominence  to  the  younger  brother,  and  secretly  resolved 
to  take  observations  and  judge  for  myself.  It  was  not  long 
before  I  was  ready  to  acquiesce  in  the  frankly-expressed 
opinion  of  my  Palmetto  State  friend.  Soon,  on  the  way  to 
the  recitation-room,  I  was  introduced  to  the  young  man 
who  had  been  the  special  subject  of  our  conversation. 

He  was  of  rather  stout  build,  with  dark  hair  and  rather 
heavy  eyebrows,  giving  the  eye  a  deep-set  appearance,  and 
conveying  the  impression  of  inflexible  determination.  His 
countenance  was  composed,  thoughtful,  and  serious,  almost 
to  sadness.  He  wore  a  full  suit  of  dark,  home-made  jeans; 
for,  in  those  days,  there  was,  perhaps,  less  said  about 
economy  than  now;  but  there  was  a  greater  number  will- 
ing to  illustrate  the  good  effects  and  full  force  of  a  'philos- 
ophy which  teaches  by  example.' 

Permit  me  to  remark,  in  this  connection,  that  G.  J.  Orr, 
now  our  popular  State  School  Commissioner,  is  insepara- 
bly associated  in  my  memory  with  that  old  dark,  long  jeans 
frock-coat  he  wore  so  long  and  so  well ;  and  Ben.  Hill,  in 
those  days,  rejoiced  in  the  possession  of  a  full  suit  of  light 
blue  jeans,  embracing  a  coat  with  a  skirt  of  liberal  length. 
Others  of  these  homespun  boys  m^ght  be  mentioned,  who, 
let  it  be  added  for  the  encouragement  of  the  young,  have 
since  fought  the  battle  of  life  successfully,  and  become  both 
useful  and  distinguished  among  their  fellow-men. 

*  Dr.  Church  was  at  that  time  President  of  the  College. 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Returning  from  this  brief  digression,  I  shall  first  refer  to 
the  scholastic  attainments  of  our  deceased  friend.  I  can 
state,  without  hesitation,  that  during  the  eighteen  months 
I  was  associated  with  him — and  we  both  belonged  to  the 
same  division  of  the  class — I  never  knew  him  to  make  a 
failure  in  the  recitation-room.  Ranking  high  in  'all  the  de- 
partments, he  was  peculiarly  distinguished  for  his  readiness 
in  the  solution  of  difficult  problems  in  the  higher  branches 
of  mathematics.  During  the  last  term  of  the  senior  year, 
a  course  of  lectures  was  delivered  on  railroading,  engineer- 
ing, and  what  is  now  more  familiarly  known  in  the  schools 
as  'applied  sciences.'  Every  member  of  the  class  was  re- 
quired to  take  notes  and  write  out  each  lecture — the  man- 
uscript, at  the  close  of  the  course,  to  be  bound  and  form  a 
volume  of  valuable  and  useful  information.  Not  unfrc- 
quently  the  notes  prepared  by  Linton  Stephens  were  copied 
and  handed  in  by  other  members  of  the  class  to  save  them- 
selves trouble,  so  implicit  was  their  confidence  in  his  accu- 
racy and  reliability.  Pie  was  a  Phi  Kappa — I  a  Demosthe- 
nean  ;  and,  consequently,  I  am  not  so  familiar  as  others 
with  his  performances  as  a  debater.  Hut  I  remember  that 
on  a  certain  occasion — perhaps  immediately  preceding  our 
Junior  commencement — some  subject  of  dispute  arose, 
which  caused  much  excitement  and  provoked  considerable 
discussion  among  us.  A  meeting  of  students  was  called  in 
the  chapel,  and  organized  by  the  appointment  of  a  presid- 
ing officer.  A  number  of  speeches  were  made,  crimina- 
tion and  recrimination  indulged  in,  with  no  peaceful  result 
in  prospect.  At  length,  Linton  Stephens,  who  had  been 
quietly  listening,  arose,  and,  in  a  calm,  respectful  manner, 
made  a  short,  lucid,  well-timed  speech.,  in  which  the  whole 
subject  was  thoroughly  analyzed.  There  was  no  assump- 
tion— no  arrogance — nothing  offensive,  but  the  matter  was 
so  clearly  held  up  to  the  light  that  it  was  easily  compre- 
hended. His  was  the  last  speech  made,  and  he  was  sus- 
tained by  the  meeting,  it  being  his  good  fortune,  no  less  by 
cogency  of  reasoning  than  by  his  respectful  bearing,  to  ac- 
complish his  purpose,  and  '  pour  oil  upon  the  troubled 
waters. ' 

Usually,  he  was  rather  taciturn  and  meditative,  but  not 
selfishly  so;  and  often,  in  our  evening  strolls,  or  on  the 
way  to  the  boarding-house,  when  anecdote  and  fun  were 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  5 

uppermost,  he  joined  with  the  little  knot  of  lively  young 
fellows,  whose  sallies  of  wit  and  quick  repartee  made  the 
'  high  dome '  ring  with  peals  of  joyous  laughter.  While 
endeavoring  to  store  his  mind  with  the  treasures  of  learn- 
ing, he  was  not  altogether  indifferent  to  the  happy  influ- 
ences of  a  spice  of  mirth.  As  a  gentleman,  he  was  unex- 
ceptional in  deportment  to  both  students  and  professors. 
He  conformed  strictly  with  college  regulations ;  but  I  will  give 
an  instance  of  his  complicity  with  a  practical  joke,  which 
we  sometimes  played  upon  Professor  James  Jackson.  Glo- 
rious 'Old  Major!'  Peace  to  his  ashes!  'The  Major'  (as 
he  was  universally  called)  was  fond  of  anecdote  and  fun ; 
and  a  lively  disputation  with  the  boys,  even  on  politics,  had 
for  him  great  attraction.  The  history  of  the  '  Yazoo  Fraud : ' ' 
its  repeal,  the  burning  of  the  obnoxious  records  on  the 
State  House  square  at  Louisville,  with  fire  drawn  from  Jica- 
I'cn,  and  especially  the  honorable  connection  which  his  dis- 
tinguished father  had  with  procuring  a  repeal  of  the  dis- 
graceful act,  was  a  topic  on  which  the  Major  seemed  not  to 
know  when  he  had  said  enough  or  heard  enough.  One 
evening,  after  the  bell  had  sounded  the  recitation  hour,  it 
was  ascertained,  between  Old  College  and  the  old  brick 
laboratory,  in  which  was  his  lecture  and  recitation-room, 
that  only  three  or  foul"  of  the  class  had  studied  the  lesson. 
To  avoid  the  mortification  of  so  large  a  number  answering 
'  not  prepared,'  we  agreed  to  take  advantage  of  the  Major's 
pardonable  weakness  and  '  talk  against  time. '  A  young 
man  from  Columbia  county,  who  had  remarkably  fine  con- 
versational powers,  (and  of  whom  the  Major  was  wont  to 
say,  '  Sir,  if  you  had  lived  in  ancient  times,  you  certainly 
would  have  belonged  to  the  School  of  Sophists,  and  if  your 
tongue  was  a  sword,  sir,  you  would  make  an  excellent 
swordsman,')  was  to  begin.  Others  were  to  join  in  and 
lead  the  conversation  in  the  direction  of  politics.  The 
Major  was  a  little  restive,  and  not  disposed  to  be  commu- 
nicative at  first— perhaps  not  entirely  unsuspicious.  But 
when  Linton  Stephens,  with  as  much  gravity  as  he  could 
command,  asked  to  be  informed  as  to  some  facts  relative  to 
the  early  history  of  Georgia,  and  more  particularly  the 
repeal  of  the  '  Yazoo  Act,'  the  old  Professor's  countenance 
lighted  up  with  smiles,  and  he  responded  at  length.  We 
plied  him  with  questions,  which  he  answered,  totally  obliv- 


1 6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ious  of  the  passage  of  time,  until  the  college-bell  sum- 
moned all  from  recitation-rooms  to  the  chapel  and  to  ves- 
pers. It  was  with  no  little  pleasure  we  heard  it  announced 
from  the  chair:  'Young  gentlemen,  tak'n,  take  the  same 

recitation  for  to-morrow. '  * 

I  am,  very  truly,  WILLIAM  LUNDY. 

When  young  Stephens  entered  college,  there  began  an 
epistolary  correspondence  between  himself  and  his  brother 
Alexander,  which  was  kept  up  almost  daily — save  when 
sickness,  or  the  living  epistle,  interrupted  it — for  more  than 
thirty  years.  I  have  had  access  to  a  large  portion  of  that 
correspondence.  Almost  every  topic  of  the  passing  time, 
whether  of  general  or  personal  concern — men,  measures, 
subjects  of  philosophy,  of  history,  of  morality,  of  religion, 
of  science,  literature,  and  art,  are  therein  discussed,  with 
that  freedom,  fullness  and  candor  which  the  abandon  of  per- 
fect confidence  only  can  generate  or  justify.  Of  those 
written  by  the  elder  brother  during  Linton's  college-life, 
there  is  scarcely  one  which  does  not  contain  some  word  of 
warning,  of  kindly  admonition,  and  of  encouragement  in 
the  performance  of  duty  ;  nor  scarcely  one  wherein  he  does 
not  assert,  and  seek  to  impress  still  more  deeply  upon  the 
mind,  his  own  faith  in  the  reality  of  virtue,  of  enthusiasm, 
and  the  progress  of  man.  A  beautiful  feature  character- 
izing the  letters  of  each  is  the  pure,  fraternal  affection  with 
which  they  breathe  and  burn.  Some  conception  of  the  in- 
fluences under  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared, 
his  principles  confirmed,  his  tastes  fashioned,  his  aspira- 
tions kindled,  his  whole  character  molded,  may  be  formed 
from  the  spirit  and  sentiment  of  the  following  letters  from 
that  brother: 


*  The  student*  of  the  college,  who  sat  under  the  "Old  Major's"  in- 
structions, will  remember  that,  when  a  little  excited,  with  something  like 
a  stutter,  lie  almost  invariably  said,  "Tak'n,  take,"  meaning  simply 
"take."  He  was  an  able  and  popular  professor — an  accomplished 
scholar;  and,  while  the  kindest  and  most  guileless  of  men,  there  was  no 
lack  of  the  foil  tier  in  re  element  in  his  nature. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS. 
[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  January  26,   1840. 


The  poet  says: 

"  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing  : 
Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring." 

And  there  is  as  much  truth  as  satire  in  the  couplet.  To  be 
a  srnatterer — to  learn  enough  only  to  imbibe  the  errors  of 
the  world,  and  to  become  puffed  up  or  inflated  with  the 
conceitedness  of  self-importance — are  no  less  ruinous  to  the 
unfortunate  subject  than  disgustful  to  the  whole  circle  of 
his  equal!}7  unfortunate  acquaintance.  To  be  a  scholar — to 
place  one's  self  above  the  common  level — to  ascend  the 
steeps  of  science,  and  climb  the  rugged  cliff  of  fame — re- 
quire energy,  resolution,  time,  self-denial,  patience,  and 
ambition.  These  are  not  the  common  qualities  of  a  fickle 
brain,  but  the  higher  attributes  of  genius.  He  that  pos- 
sesses them  by  disciplining  them  and  subjecting  them  to 
proper  obedience  to  his  own  master-spirit,  can  control  not 
only  his  own  destiny,  but  that  of  others.  .  .  .  Good- 
bye. Let  me  hear  of  your  doing  well.  Fortune  is  a  web, 
and  every  man  weaves  it  for  himself.  Tell  John  howdy'e, 
and  remember  me  to  Lewis  and  Joseph  LeConte,  and  James 
Green. 


f  From  same  tu  same.  | 

CKAWFOKDVILLE,  February  2,   1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  29th 
ultimo,  and  see  in  it  nothing  that  you  need  be  ashamed  of, 
but  much  that  afforded  me  pleasure — particularly  its  gen- 
eral spirit  of  frankness  and  independence.  There  is  no 
virtue  in  the  human  character  more  noble  than  candor— 
plain,  real,  unsophisticated  candor;  it  is  the  legitimate  off- 
spring of  truth,  and  always  begets  independence.  The  two 
seldom  are  separated,  and  both  should  be  cherished  as  the 


1 8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

governing  principle  of  real  nobleness  of  soul  and  all  true 
manliness.  Some  parts  of  your  letter  savored  a  little  of  a 
morbid  excitement ;  perhaps  you  have  been  stimulating 
your  ambition  too  much,  until  that  which  should  have  been 
the  embodied  and  living  sentiment  of  the  soul's  deep 
r.'S'i/rc  has  kindled  into  a  passion,  and  burns  not  with  a 
healthful  action,  but  a  feverish  heat.  If  so,  this  should  be 
corrected,  and  that  speedily,  too,  else  the  same  breast  that 
so  fondly  cherishes  a  longing  restlessness  for  fame  and  dis- 
tinction ma)r  come  short  of  its  wishes  by  falling  itself  a  vic- 
tim to  its  own  aspirations.  "Vaulting  ambition,"  says 
Shakspeare,  "o'erleaps  itself;"  or,  as  Byron  has  most 
beautifully  expressed  a  similar  sentiment  in  relation  to 
Kirkc  \Vliiti\  in  his  satire  on  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Re- 
viewers, and  paraphrased  to  suit  my  present  purpose,  would 
read  thus:  (speaking  of  White's  untimely  death.) 

'•()!),  what  a  noble  heart  was  here  undone. 
When  Aiii/>/tion's  self  destroyed  her  favorite  son  ; 
Yes,  >he  too  much  indulged  thy  fond  pursuit — 
She  sow'd  the  seeds,  but  death  has  reaped  the  fruit. 
'Twas  thine  own  spirit  gave  the  fatal  blow, 
And  help'd  to  plant  the  wound  that  laid   thee  low  ; 
So  the  struck  eagle,  stretch'd  upon  the  plain, 
No  more  through  rolling  clouds  to  soar  again, 
View'd  his  own  feather  on  the  fatal  dart. 
And  wing'd  the  shaft  that  <|iiivercd  in  his  heart. 
Keen  were  his  pangs,  but  keener  far  to  feel, 
lie  nuiVd  the  pinion  which  impelled  the  steel, 
While  the  same  plumage  that  had  wann'd  his  nest 


This  beautiful  allusion,  however,  to  a  passion  too  fondly 
indulged  in,  refers  more  particularly  to  its  elfect  on  the 
health  of  the  body  than  its  reaction  on  the  mind  itself, 
while  it  is  to  this  latter  view  more  particularly  I  wished  to 
direct  your  attention.  Bulwer,  who  is  one  of  the  finest 
delineators  of  character  I  have  ever  read,  has  given  main' 
illustrations  of  it.  Some  of  these  you  will  see  in  the  char- 
acter of  Warren  the  artist,  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  first 
book  of  "  '/'fie  Disowned,"  and  in  the  character  of  Talbot, 
as  related  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  same  book.  I 
wish  you  to  read  both  these  chapters  soon  as  convenient, 
as  well  for  you:'  amusement  as  instruction  ;  and  many  hints 
upon  the  same  subject,  you  recollect,  are  to  be  gleaned 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  19 

from  the  character  of  Castruccio  (the  mad  poet),  in  "  Ernest 
Maltravers. " 

You  probably  judge  of  the  opinions  of  others  towards 
you  from  the  state  of  your  own  feelings,  which  may  have 
become  too  much  excited  for  your  own  success,  to  be  suffi- 
ciently cheerful  in  the  company  of  your  associates.  A  man 
is  generally  treated  by  t/ic  world  as  he  treats  it,  and  to  get 
from  others  their  good-will,  esteem  and  confidence,  he 
must  generally  yi*eld  the  contribution  of  his  own. 

Upon  the  subject  of  aristocracy,  to  which  you  allude,  I 
would  say  that  there  is  one  kind  of  aristocracy  I  with  you 
equally  despise,  but  another  kind  I  greatly  admire.  The 
first  is  the  aristocracy  of  wealth  and  fashion,  etc. — a  folly 
that  is  contemptible.  The  other  is  the  aristocracy  (the 
aristos  cratco]  of  honor,  principle,  good-breeding  and  educa- 
tion— that  awards  distinction  not  to  birth  or  to  fortune,  but 
to  merit  and  principle,  and  that,  in  a  word,  which  proclaims, 
in  the  language  of  the  Muse : 

"Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise: 
Act  well  your  fart— there  all  the  honor  lies." 

This  is  the  aristocracy  of  nature,  and  is  cast  by  no  heredi- 
tary descent,  but  is  an  impress  given  by  Dame  Fortune  to 
her  own  favorite  children.  You  should  not  hastily  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  without  cause  you  are  held  in  low- 
esteem  by  your  fellows  ;  and  if,  after  due  reflection,  such 
opinion  or  conclusion  should  be  confirmed,  why,  then  your 
own  independence  should  cause  you  wholly  to  disregard 
such  estimation  so  entertained  :  not  by  evidences  of  disre- 
spect on  your  part  evinced  towards  them  in  the  way  of  retal- 
iation— for  that  would  prove  you  affected  by  their  opinions, 
and  not  independent  and  superior  to  them — but  by  the  ap- 
pearance (which  also  must  be  genuine)  of  a  real  unfeigned 
disregard  for  themselves,  their  feelings,  their  esteem,  their 
love  or  their  hatred,  their  good-will  or  their  prejudice;  I 
say  totally  indifferent,  and  neither  biased  one  way  or  the 
other  by  the  show  of  either  class  of  feelings.  This  is  true 
independence, .and  anything  short  of  it  is  a  spurious  affecta- 
tion. •  To  exercise  it,  I  know,  requires  great  self-composure, 
quick  perception,  and  strength  of  judgment — with  feelings 
high  above  all  prejudice,  and  such  as  would  cause  a  man, 


2O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

under  such  circumstances,  to  praise  where  praise  was  due 
and  censure  where  censure  was  due,  and  to  preserve,  in  all 
his  intercourse  with  such  people,  the  same  calm  indiffer- 
ence with  which  he  would  attend  to  his  horse  or  administer 
to  the  wants  of  other  bnitcs  in  the  way  of  giving  them  food 
or  affording  them  other  relief,  or  even  a  little  chastisement, 
if  required,  irrespective  of  any  demonstration  of  ill-will  or 
bad-temper  that  might  be  given  during  the  performance  of 
his  duty.  Such  I  know  is  a  lofty  stand  for  a  man  to  take, 
and  requires  great  power  of  superior  intellect  for  him  to 
maintain  ;  but  when  one  is  able  to  do  it,  the  same  fellows 
who  before  were  snapping  and  growling  and  barking  at 
everything  he  did,  will  soon  be  seen  fawning  and  wallowing 
at  his  feet,  with  all  the  humility  and  sycophancy  of  curs. 

But  as  I  stop,  I  will  do  so  with  Burns'  closing  stanza  to 
his  young  friend : 

"In  plo\vman  phrase,  'God  send  you  .speed,' 

Still  daily  to  grow  wiser. 
And  may  you  better  reck  the  rede 
Than  ever  did  th'  adviser." 

[  From  same  to  same.] 

FEBRUARY  28,  1840. 

In  relation  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Uni- 

versalists,  you  allude  to  in  your  letter,  and  particularly  in 
that  part  wherein  you  request  my  opinion,  I  would  barely 
say,  without  entering  fully  into  the  subject,  that  I  do  not 
agree  with  him  in  the  belief  that  there  is  "no  personal 
devil  or  fallen  spirit,  and  that  what  is  commonly  called  the 
devil  is  no  more  nor  less  than  the  inclination  of  men  to  do 
evil."  What  I  mean  by  personal  devil  is  an  evil  spirit — a 
spiritual  intelligence,  apostate  and  fallen.  There  are  doubt- 
less many  spiritual  intelligences  besides  the  Deity.  Some 
are  pure  or  holy  and  sinless,  such  as  we  call  angels  ;  others 
are  of  natures  opposite,  being  evil,  rebellious  and  disobedi- 
ent, such  as  in  the  Scriptures  are  called  devils.  Among  all 
the  spirits  or  intelligences,  whether  apostate  or  not,  there 
are  doubtless  grades :  some  are  superior  and  some  inferior 
in  the  scale  of  existence.  There  are  seraphim  and  cher- 
ubim, and  perhaps  many  other  grades,  amongst  the  angels; 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  21 

and  as  Gabriel  and  Michael  and  some  others  seem  to  stand 
highest  with  them,  even  so  Satan  seems  to  stand  first,  or 
archangel,  amongst  the  fallen  spirits,  and  is  emphatically 
called  "the  devil."  Now,  there  may  be,  and  no  doubt  is, 
much  error  in  the  world  about  "the  devil  tempting  men," 
etc.  My  opinion  is,  that  the  devil  tempts  men  just  as  one 
bad  man  tempts  another.  Mind  is  subject  to  influence, 
and  spirit  acts  upon  spirit;  and  as  even  amongst  men  the 
associations  of  bad  company  are  contaminating  in  their 
influence,  so  much  more  will  it  be  the  case  with  him  who 
suffers  his  desires,  propensities  or  affections  to  be  directed 
to  improper  objects,  or  dwell  upon  improper  subjects:  for, 
in  addition  to  his  natural  inclination,  being  himself  depraved, 
the  company  of  his  thoughts,  by  the  communion  of  spirits, 
will  soon  be  courted  by  the  great  evil  genius,  who  is  "going 
about  like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may  devour" — 
all  upon  the  same  law  governing  the  association  of  men, 
except  the  language  and  such  other  influences  as  come 
through  the  medium  of  sense.  So,  you  perceive,  I  have 
no  doubt  either  of  the  existence  of  such  an  intelligence, 
personage  or  being,  or  the  influence  of  his  associations 
upon  the  minds  and  principles  of  men. 

Your  conclusions  from  my  premises  or  principles,  touch- 
ing the  nature  of  future  punishments,  were  clearly  correct. 
If  punishment  or  suffering  be  a  necessary  result  from  the 
laws  of  the  soul,  existence  or  being,  in  a  certain  state,  it 
must  continue  so  long  as  such  state  continues  unchanged, 
which  will  be  forever.  It  was  certainly  a  very  absurd  idea 
of  the  preacher's  about  the  two  infinite  existences,  and  the 
11  sequiter"  he  deduced.  But,  by-the-by,  to  put  one's  self 

to  the  trouble  of  following  such  a  fellow  as  B ,  and 

detecting  his  errors  and  sophistries,  seems  to  be  one  of 
those  cases  in  which  the  doctrine  of  the  maxim,  "  Opercs 
pretium  non  est,"  would  most  aptly  apply.  The  labor  would 
cost  more  than  it  comes  to A.  H.  S. 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFOKDVILLE,  March  3,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  wrote  you  a  letter  which  left  here  on 
last  Sunday  night's  mail,  and  now  send  a  few  more  lines, 
just  because  I  have  an  opportunity.  All  the  news  since 


22  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

that  time  is  that  we  have  been  disappointed  in  our  court, 
in  consequence  of  the  ill-health  of  Judge  Andrews.  The 
court  that  should  have  been  held  stands  adjourned  till  the 
fifth  Monday  in  this  month. 

Dr.  Bird  has  moved  his  quarters  to  this  part  of  town, 
and  has  taken  board  with  us — that  is,  with  Uncle  Bird. 
We  now  have  quite  a  professional  club:  Mr.  Cook  and  his 
lady,  teachers ;  myself,  Mark  Johnston  and  Daniel  Roberts, 
gentlemen  of  t/ic  bar;  and  Dr.  Bird,  of  the  liealing  art. 

Mr.  Baker  will  take  up  for  you  one  of  my  summer  coats, 
which,  if  it  fits,  you  can  wear.  But  be  very  cautious  in 
changing  your  dress  as  the  warm  weather  comes  on.  This 
is  the  most  dangerous  season  in  the  year  for  influenza  and 
such  catarrhal  affections  as  sometimes  end  in  consumption. 
Indeed,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  the  spring  of  the 
year  has  more  effect  upon  the  general  health  of  the  system 
than  any  other.  It  is  true  that  its  effects  are  not  so  plain 
and  perceptible;  that  people  then  are  more  generally  un- 
healthy ;  but  that  is  only  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  influ- 
ence it  is  exerting — it  is  only  more  latent  or  secret;  or, 
what  may  be  more  true,  it  is  a  kind  of  seed-tune  of  disease — 
passing  pleasantly  by,  while  it  sows  deep  the  seeds  of  death, 
leaving  summer  and  fall  to  attend  to  the  harvest.  However 
this  may  be,  my  experience  teaches  me  that  spring  has 
always  been  the  critical  period  with  myself,  and  1  have 
noticed  a  similar  effect  upon  others.  The  same  effect  is 
also  witnessed  upon  trees.  Almost  all  fruit  and  forest  trees 
(except  pine  and  cedars)  seem  to  sicken,  decline,  and  decay 
and  die  in  the  spring,  soon  after  the  commencement  of 
vegetation  and  the  flowing  of  the  sap — except  when  the 
death  may  be  attributed  to  some  direct  cause,  such  as 
drought  or  wounds,  etc.  The  philosophy  of  the  thing  I 
don't  pretend  to  explain  ;  but  it  seems  that  from  a  change 
in  the  circulation,  vitality,  etc.,  the  equilibrium  in  the  prin- 
ciple of  life  is  more  difficult  to  sustain.  And  so  with  the 
human  system  :  at  that  time  the  circulation  is  more  ob- 
structed, and  some  of  the  organs  seem  to  be  loaded  with 
accumulated  secretions,  producing  dullness,  while  slowly 
and  stealthily  disease  is  making  the  most  dangerous  ad- 
vances upon  the  constitution.  But  enough  of  this.  Never 
grow  careless  of  your  health,  nor  too  cautious  of  it.  There 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  23 

is  in  this,  as  in  all  things,  a  golden  mean,  which  should,  if 

possible,  be  maintained 

I  commenced  this  letter  on  one-half  sheet  only,  intend- 
ing to  send  you  a  fe\v  lines,  but  some  how  I  have  spun  it 
out  so  that  I  have  called  in  an  additional  scrap  to  conclude 
upon.  Last  night,  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock,  we  had 
one  of  the  most  gorgeous  displays  of  nature  I  ever  wit- 
nessed :  it  was  a  meteorological  phenomenon,  which  made 
its  appearance  directly  in  the  west.  The  atmosphere  had 
been,  and  was  dry  and  loaded  with  smoke,  and  during  the 
evening  it  had  become  somewhat  cloudy  from  the  south- 
west. At  the  time  of  the  evening  mentioned,  it  was  quite 
dark,  and  heavy  thunder  was  heard  in  the  distance,  off  to 
the  southwest,  with  occasionally  a  gleam  of  lightning, 
brightening  or  lighting  up  the  atmosphere  without  any  ap- 
parent source  of  locality,  when  directly  toward  the  west  a 
faint  light  was  at  first  perceived  at  an  angle  of  about  ten 
degrees  with  the  horizon,  as  if  reflected  from  some  distant 
fire  ;  it  soon,  however,  grew  brighter  and  brighter,  until, 
within  a  few  minutes,  the  whole  western  hemisphere  was 
encircled  in  its  extent,  presenting  just  such  fiery  redness  as 
you  might  suppose  would  have  been  the  case  if  some  large 
city,  ten  miles  off,  had  been  wrapt  in  flames — making,  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  far-off  clouds  the  signal  of 
distress.  Many  were  the  spectators  to  the  scene.  Some 
thought  Greenesboro  was  on  fire,  or  some  other  great  fire 
was  raging,  while  I  was  fully  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that 
it  was  electrical  in  its  origin.  It  at  last  became  so  bright 
that  the  forest  trees  could  be  distinctly  seen  in  its  direction 
for  a  mile  off,  and  presented  the  appearance  of  an  eastern 
sky  of  a  thick  smoky  night  just  before  the  moon's  disc  can 
be  discerned  above  the  horizon's  edge.  Its  continuance 
was  about  ten  minutes,  and  was  in  full  splendor  when  ob- 
scured by  gusts  of  wind  and  rain,  with  thunder  and  light- 
ning, which  added  somewhat  to  the  grandeur  of  the  scene. 
I  was  at  Scott's  Hotel  in  the  piazza,  and  was  the  first  to 
observe  its  appearance  and  full  developments,  and  I  never 
before  saw  anything  of  the  kind — not  even  the  aurora  borcalis 
in  1836 — to  equal  it  in  richness  and  splendor.  It  was  one 
of  nature's  grandest  shows;  and  yet,  hundreds  of  this 
world's  groveling  crowds  gazed  upon  it  with  as  little  thought 
as  they  would  upon  a  huntsman's  torch — so  prone  to  earth 


24  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

in  their  cares  and  afflictions,  they  have  no  admiration  for 
the  beauties  of  the  heavens — and  would  not  be  half  as 
much  affected  by  a  similar  exhibition,  even  doubled  in 
magnificence,  as  the}'  would  be  by  a  single  glimpse  at  the 
pale  and  troubled  light  of  the  flickering  ignis  fainns.  But 
I  must  stop,  or  I  shall  have  to  call  in  even  another  scrap  to 
envelop  this.  I  write  to-night  as  a  dyspeptic  eats — with 

a  coming  appetite 

Affectionately, 

A.  H.  STEPHENS. 

"The  progress  of  the  age  "  has  frowned  down  the  old-time 
custom  of  the  younger  brother  donning  the  half-worn 
clothes  of  the  elder ;  but  the  fact  hardly  helps  to  refute 
the  theory,  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  progress — the  one 
upward,  the  other  downward. 

[  From  same  to  same.] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  March  29,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  hope  you  arc- 
studious,  and  active  in  exercise.  Don't  forget  or  neglect 
your  common-place  book.  Pen  down  all  interesting 
thoughts,  and  don't  be  too  choice  in  the  selections  of  your 
interesting  thoughts,  for  fear  you  will  pen  none.  Recollect 
that  thought  is  a  prolific  something,  and  one  always  begets 
another ;  begin  with  something.  I  should  like  also  if  you 
would  send  me  a  copy  of  your  compositions.  I  want  to 
see  what  you  are  doing 

[From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  April  5,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  past  week  has 

been  one  of  great  excitement  and  labor  to  me ;  indeed,  al- 
most greater  than  my  strength  could  bear.  It  was  our  Su- 
perior Court  week,  you  know,  and  the  business  was  not  got 
through  with  until  Friday  morning.  We  sent  Kirkland  to 
the  penitentiary  for  seven  years :  he  that  procured  Far- 
mer's negro  woman  to  poison  her  mistress,  or  to  make  the 
attempt. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2$ 

I  was  glad  to  see  you  had  taken  up  the  "Last  Days  of 
Pompeii."  It  is  a  work  of  great  merit,  though  it  hardly 
does  justice  to  the  early  Christian  advocates.  In  that  par- 
ticular its  greatest  defect  consist?;.  I  think  Buhver,  in  one 
sense,  greatly  Scott's  superior  in  novel-writing ;  his  mind  is 
of  a  higher  order — he  is  more  profound  and  metaphysical — 
in  a  word,  more  Platonic — while  Scott  is  easier,  more  de- 
scriptive and  can  deal  successfully  in  a  much  greater  variety 
of  character.  Scott's  best  characters — that  is,  the  best  drawn 
are  his  lowest — Bulwer's  best  are  his  highest. 


Among  the  earliest  and  deepest  impressions  made  upon 
the  mind  of  Linton  Stephens  was  that  of  reverence  for  the 
Supreme  Being  ;  he  accepted  the  Bible  as  a  Divine  Reve- 
lation ;  no  occasion  of  hilarity,  in  the  society  of  wild  and 
thoughtless  spirits,  ever  betrayed  him  into  profanation  of 
things  deemed  sacred  ;  and  for  the  professors  of  religion, 
whose  faith  was  exemplified  in  their  walk  and  conversation, 
he  ever  manifested  the  highest  jespect.  While  at  college, 
he  became  a  communicant  of  the  Presbyterian  Church- 
then  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Nathan  Hoyt,  D.  D. 
The  two  letters  following,  from  his  brother,  relate  to  that 
subject,  and  exhibit  a  solicitude  at  once  anxious,  considerate 
and  beautiful : 


[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  May  5,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  subject  of 

Religion  has  been  one  that  I  have  seldom  alluded  to  in  my 
correspondence  with  you,  either  in  words  or  by  letter.  The 
principle  upon  which  I  acted  (I  believe)  required  me  to 
pursue  such  a  course.  Perhaps,  hereafter  I  may  dwell 
more  at  large  upon  the  subject.  Let  me  hear  from  you 
often.  I  was  going  to  give  you  some  advice,  but  iear  to 
do  so.  If  I  were  with  you,  I  might ;  for  then  I  could 
better  judge  of  its  propriety  ;  but  as  it  is,  I  cannot.  Read 
your  Bible — make  it  your  text-book  of  faith 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  June  2,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  cannot,  how- 
ever, utter  to  you  the  intensity  of  feeling  I  sustain,  when  I 
think  of  the  temptations  and  dangers  of  your  nc\v  situation. 
I  hope  your  prudence  and  confiding  reliance  upon  a  Supe- 
rior Ruling'  Providence,  whose  protection  and  guardianship 
are  always  extended  to  those  who  trust  themselves  to  His 
grace,  will  preserve  you  harmless.  I  never  like  to  be  a  lec- 
turer, or  to  give  advice,  because  I  am  so  sensible  of  my  own 
errors  and  imperfections.  And  this  is  why  I  have  said  so 
little  to  you  upon  subjects  of  religion,  morality  and  duty. 
But  1  trust  you  will  not  think  the  less  on  them  yourself,  or 
be  more  remiss  in  your  actions.  If  1  have  said  nothing,  it 
is  not  because  I  felt  nothing.  I  do  hope,  therefore,  that 
you  will  not  even  trust . yourself  to  your  judgment  or  cau- 
tion, but  ask  assistance  from  One  who  is  able  to  direct  you 
daily.  1  believe  in  a  special  providence.  Of  all  Christian 
virtues,  cultivate  humanity  and  meekness  and  a  spirit  of 
dependence  upon  the  great  Ruler  of  the  universe — ''for 

ever\'  good  and  perfect  gift." 

Yours,  affectionately, 

A.  H.  S. 

Concerning  the  opinions  and  principles  of  the  prom- 
inent founders  of  the  government — their  different  theories 
and  their  personal  and  political  merits — we  have  the  follow- 
ing letter,  evoked  by  one  of  inquiry  from  Linton  : 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  August  2,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — It  is  Sunday,  and  I  send  you  a  few  lines 
in  answer  to  yours  of  yesterday.  I  shall  write  you  again 
by  Tuesday  night's  mail,  sending  on  fifty  dollars,  if,  in  the 
meantime,  I  should  not  get  some  way  of  sending  it  by 
private,  safe  hands;  and  that  is  why  I  now  write  you,  that 
you  may,  on  Wednesday,  expect  the  letter.  In  refer- 
ence to  that  part  of  your  letter  devoted  to  politics,  and  the 
opinions  of  Judge  Dougherty  about  the  'principles  of  the 
Federalists,  etc.,  I  would  barely  say  that,  in  the  beginning 
of  our  government,  under  the  new  organization,  in  1787—88, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2/ 

all  who  were  in  favor  of  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution, 
or  were  friendly  to  the  compact — or  Fcedits,  as  it  was  called — 
assumed  the  name  of  Federalists  ;  those  who  opposed  it  took 
the  various  names  of  anti-Federalists,  or  Democrats,  Re- 
publicans, etc.  At  that  time,  Madison  and  Jefferson  were 
known  as  Federalists,  or  friends  to  the  Constitution.  Pat- 
rick Henry,  and  many  other  noble  sons  of  Virginia,  were 
opposed  to  it.  After  the  Constitution,  however,  was  rati- 
fied, and  the  government  went  into  operation,  many  meas- 
ures were  proposed,  which  some  of  the  friends  of  the  Con- 
stitution thought  were  not  authorized  by  that  instrument, 
and  which,  if  carried  out,  would  centralize  all  power  in  the 
General  Government,  to  the  subversion  of  the  States. 
That  class,  of  course,  fell  back  into  the  ranks  of  the  Re- 
publicans. Amongst  these  were  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr. 
Madison,  and  man\r  others  ;  while  Patrick  Henry  and  others 
fell  into  the  ranks  of  the  Federal  class,  saying  that  these 
powers,  the  others  were  then  complaining  of,  were  granted 
in  the  Constitution,  and  it  was  too  late  then  to  raise  any 
complaint;  that  they  had  warned  them  of  the  danger;  had 
foretold  these  consequences,  and  it  was  now  too  late  ;  the 
Constitution  was  established,  and  the  country  had  to  abide 
by  it.  Many  of  the  measures  of  the  Federalists  of  that 
time — say  from  1790  to  1800 — were,  no  doubt,  good  ones, 
while  others  were  truly  obnoxious — particularly  the  one 
against  aliens,  and  one  upon  the  subject  of  sedition,  which 
to  this  time  are  known  as  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws.  It  was 
those  measures  which  showed  a  disposition,  on  the  part  of 
the  Federal  party,  to  be  grasping  powers  not  delegated, 
that  caused  the  overthrow  of  that  party,  in  1800,  by  the 
election  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  Mr.  Jefferson,  of  course,  did 
not  take  Jiis  scat  until  1801,  (4th  March.)  The  canvass, 
however,  was  in  1800.  But,  considering  the  merits  of  most 
of  the  obnoxious  measures  of  those  days,  apart  from  all 
party  or  personal  character  or  bearing,  just  as  you  would 
look  at  the  laws  of  ancient  countries,  I  believe  there  is  not 
a  great  deal  more  to  censure  in  them  than  many  of  the 
laws  we  have  had  passed  in  much  later  times.  The  patriot- 
ism, however,  of  those  men  who  were  called  Federalists, 
even  at  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  no  man  can  doubt. 
They  were  amongst  the  earliest  and  most  devoted  friends 
and  movers  of  the  Revolution,  and  were  among  the  mas- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

ter-spirits  that  struggled  for  and  aided  in  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  our  independence.  They  were  all,  no  doubt, 
friends  to  free  government,  but  differed,  as  men  always 
will,  as  to  the  best  method  and  means  of  administering  it. 
It  is  true  that  Air.  Jefferson,  in  his  Anas  (some  notes 
published  at  the  end  of  his  works,)  intimates,  and 
clearly  indicates  his  belief  that  a  large  party  then  existed 
in  the  country,  favorable  to  a  monarch}-;  but,  for  my  own 
part,  I  do  not  believe  one  isord  of  it.  His  aim  was  at  Ham- 
ilton; but  he  was,  in  point  of  mind,  intellect,  integrity, 
manly  bearing,  and  patriotism,  high  above  all  such  suspi- 
cions. Jefferson  even  intimates  openly,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
that  Washington  was  aspiring  to  a  throne.  With  Hamil- 
ton's notions  of  government  I  do  not  agree  ;  but  that  he 
was  in  favor  of  changing  it  into  a  kingly  government,  none, 
I  think,  would  pretend  to  believe,  who  knows  anything  of 
his  opinions  of  the  formation  of  the  Constitution.  He  was 
truly  a  great  man,  but  his  tJicories  did  not  suit  the  genius 
of  our  institutions.  You  will  see  a  good  sketch  of  his  life 
in  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia,  under  the  title  of  his  name, 
I  think  ;  or,  maybe  it  is  the  American  Encyclopaedia.  For 
a  full  and  accurate  history  of  all  those,  and  that  which  / 
like,  I  refer  you  to  a  late  work  called  the  "  Olive  Branch." 
You  can  get  it  in  the  library.  I  wish  you  to  read  it,  and 
at  this  time,  as  your  mind  is  now  more  or  less  directed  to 
those  periods  by  daily  conversation,  and  on  that  account 
more  susceptible  of  receiving  and  treasuring  up  a  large 
fund  of  useful  history  and  good  information.  I  have  not 
seen  the  book  since  I  was  in  college,  and  there  I  got  all  my 
knowledge  (except  small  gleanings  occasionally  from  other 
quarters)  upon  the  subject.  I  have  written  a  great  deal 
more  than  I  exptcted 

I  dreamed  last  night  you  were  dead;  and,  while  no  be- 
liever in  dreams,  I  have,  nevertheless,  all  clay  been  .more  or 
less  under  the  influence  of  the  strange  phantasm. 

Thursday  I  have  to  be  at  Camak  at  a  Harrison  meeting 
and  barbecue,  if  I  am  able.  Yesterday  was  a  great  day  at 
Raytown — a  barbecue  and  speeches  from  Gamble,  Foster, 
Sayre,  Johnson,  (of  Greene,)  and  Toombs.  The  weather 
was  very  unfavorable,  and  yet,  I  suppose,  over  two  thou- 
sand people  were  there. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  29 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  August  26,  1840. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  23d  in- 
stant. With  its  general  character  and  style,  I  was  better 
pleased  than  I  have  been  with  any  received  from  you  in 
sometime  past.  I  am  in  hope  you  will  get  entirely  over 
your  costive  habit  of  letter-writing,  and  become  freer  in 
style  and  fuller  in  matter.  My  "surmise,"  I  think,  is  hav- 
ing its  desired  effect  in  spurring  you  up.  By-the-by,  it 
was  altogether  a  surmise,  or  an  inference  of  my  own,  from 
data  within  my  own  possession.  I  have  but  to  converse 
with  a  man,  or  see  the  products  of  his  brain  in  writing,  to 
form  a  very  satisfactory  conclusion  touching  the  state  of  his 
mind — \vhether  idle  or  industrious,  active  or  indolent, 
sprightly  or  sluggish — and  it  was  from  this  source  I  derived 
my  opinion  upon  the  subjects  of  your  studies  during  the 
last  term.  You  must  not  suffer  yourself  to  fall  into  care- 
less and  relaxed  habits  of  thought;  for  you  may  be  sure 
the  effect  of  such  habits  will  soon  reach  the  discernment  of 
all ;  and  that  I  may  still  keep  you  on  the  spur,  I  will  direct 
your  attention  to  sonrc  sentences  and  forms  of  expression 
in  your  last,  that,  I  think,  could  have  been  bettered,  and 
this  I  do  the  more  readily,  as  I  am  so  much  better  pleased 
with  the  letter  than  I  have  been  with  any  lately  received, 
and  because  your  habit  of  writing  is  now  forming,  and 
whatever  kind  you  form  now,  you  will  be  apt  to  conform  to 
all  your  life.  And  at  first,  it  is  about  as  easy  to  form  a 
good  habit  as  a  bad  one,  and  about  as  easy  to  adopt  an 
easy,  clear  and  correct  style  as  a  dull,  clumsy  and  inaccu- 
rate one.  In  your  first  sentence,  then,  you  say:  "I  re- 
ceived your  letter  only  in  time  to  have  answered  it  one  mail 
sooner."  The  word  "only"  is  out  of  its  proper  place;  it 
should  have  been  just  before  "one  mail;"  thus:  "I  re- 
ceived your  letter  in  time  to  have  answered  it  only  one  mail 
sooner."  Again  you  say:  "It  (my  letter)  arrived  here 
much  before  I  took  it  from  the  office,  "etc.  Much  before, 
you  perceive,  is  not  a  very  suitable  equivalent  for  sometime, 
or  several  days,  etc.,  as  you  evidently  intended  it.  Again 
you  say:  "But  I  think  if  I  had  have  had  justice,  I  should 
have  got  the  letter  from  the  office,"  etc.  How  do  you 
parse  "had  have  had?"  You  must  make  it  in  a  kind  of 


3O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

plu-plns  quam-pcrfcct,  not  'known  to  the  common  standards. 
The  use  of  this  form  of  expression  is  a  common  error  in 
this  country.  Many  persons,  who  know  better,  or  ought 
to  know  better,  have  fallen  into  it.  In  common  parlance, 
it  is  "if  I  had  of  had,"  or  "  if  I  had  of  gone,"  or  "  if  I 
had  of  seen  him,"  etc.  ;  or,  in  common  style  still,  it  runs 
thus:  "If  I'd  a  had,"  or  "I'd  a  gone,"  or  "I'd  a  seen 
him,"  etc.  :  all  wrong  alike.  The  plu-perfect  of  the  verb 
"to  have"  is  "had  had,"  without  the  "have."  If  I  "had 
had  justice,"  etc.,  "if  I  had  gone,"  or  "had  seen  him." 
But  again  you  say:  "It  is  more  than  probable  that  my 
letter  to  you  had  been  opened,  as  it  might  have  been  sup- 
posed to  have  had  money  in  it,"  etc.  This  is  another  form 
of  expression,  and  a  use  of  the  perfect  of  the  infinitive 
mood,  instead  of  the  present,  no  less  common  than  im- 
proper. If  the  letter,  from  its  appearance,  had  been  sup- 
posed to  have  had  money  in  it,  of  course  it  would  have 
been  a  previous  matter,  and  there  would  then  have  been  no 
inducement  to  open  it ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  appearance 
of  its  having  had  money  in  it  would  imply  that  it  had  none 
in  it  at  the  time.  The  expression  should  have  been:  "It 
is  more  than  probable  that  my  letter  to  you  had  been 
opened,  as  it  might  have  been  supposed  to  have  money  in 
it."  Read  Kirkham's  grammar,  page  193,  and  Murray  on 
the  tenses. 

Besides  these,  I  would  barely  hint  at  your  orthography, 
which,  in  some  instances,  might  be  corrected.  Such  as 
government  has  an  //  in  it,  and  manner  is  not  properly 
spelled  without  two  of  the  same  nasal  sounds  or  char- 
acters. "Mentained, "  also,  I  suppose,  you  meant  for 
"maintained."  The  word  "reckon,"  I  think,  you  are 
beginning  to  misapply,  if  not  misuse;  it  is  by  no  means 
equivalent,  in  signification,  with  "think,"  "suppose," 
"suspect,"  or  "expect."  Georgians  misuse  this  word 
more  than  the  Yankees  do  the  word  "guess."  I 
would %dvise  you  to  read  over  your  grammar,  at  leisure, 
cursorily.  Much  good  information  is  to  be  got  from  it; 
and  make  it  a  matter  of  daily  consideration  with  you  to 
attend  to.  the  minutuc  of  things,  and- to  be  correct  (not- pe- 
dantic or  dogmatical)  in  all.  When  aicakc,  keep  your  mind 
always  wide  ai^ake.  In  your  history  lessons  that  you  com- 
plain of,  I  think  you  might,  with  a  little  system,  soon  get  so 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  31 

as  to  master  twenty  pages  at  or  for  one  recitation.  The 
best  system  is  to  take  the  whole  lesson  in  one  scope  or 
view.  Get  the  mind  fixed  upon  the  prominent  events  re- 
lated in  it,  and  the  order  of  their  succession,  without  the 
author's  language ;  then  the  when,  the  where  and  the  who 
come  in  almost  of  their  own  accord.  With  a  little  close 
and  intense  application  of  the  mind  at  first,  in  drilling  it 
and  bringing  it  by  a  rigid  discipline  to  this  system,  you  will 
soon  be  enabled  even  to  astonish  yourself  at  the  case  with 
which  you  will  acquire  (and  with  accuracy,  too)  the  details 
of  such  recitations.  It  requires  labor,  study  and  close  at- 
tention for  awhile,  but,  if  properly  trained,  a  faculty  of  the 
mind  will  soon  develop  itself,  not  very  unlike  that  which, 
with  a  little  practice,  is  so  easily  acquired  in  looking  upon 
paintings,  and  which  is  so  necessary  to  the  proper  appreci- 
ation of  the  beauties  and  illusions  of  the  perspective.  It 
is  a  species  of  abstraction  which  some  never  attain,  but 
only  because  they  do  not  try  in  the  right  way.  Read 
over  your  lesson  first  hastily  ;  get  its  general  import.  Plave 
the  outlines  fixed  deeply,  as  those  of  a  map,  upon  your 
mind.  Let  this  be  done  with  eyes  off  the  book  as  much  as 
possible ;  and  then  in  the  same  way  let  the  details  follow ; 
instead  of  marking  a  name  with  a  pencil,  and  leaving  it  in 
the  book,  transfer  the  whole  by  the  process  of  abstraction 
to  the  canvas  of  your  brain,  and  let  the  impression  be 
made  upon  its  tablet. 

When  I  first  commenced  those  "reading  studies,"  as  we 
called  them,  they  seemed  the  most  difficult  of  any  I  had 
met  with.  I  disliked  them  exceedingly.  But  after  a  little 
exercise  in  them,  and  when  I  found  it  was  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  know  anything  about  a  recitation  in  one  of  them 
without  knowing  everything,  I  soon  commenced  what 
seemed  the  intense  labor  of  mastering  evcrytliiiig  in  each 
lesson  by  impressing  the  whole  subject  upon  my  own  mind, 
and  thinking  as  little  of  the  book  as  possible,  and  it  was 
not  long  until  those  were  the  easiest  lessons  I  had.  It  re- 
quires a  good  deal  of  time,  though,  at  first.  The  faculties 
of  the  mind  are  like  raw  militia:  the}'  must  be  trained  and 
drilled  before  they  can  effect  much,  and  many  of  your  class, 
you  will  find,  never  will  give  theirs  .the  proper  training  and 
drilling ;  and  it  is  when  you  get  into  studies  where  others 
fag,  that  you  should  especially  exert  yourself;  for  these  are 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

the  only  points  in  the  race  where  anything  is  to  be  gained. 
Where  it  requires  nothing  extraordinary,  there  will  always 
be  some  to  share  the  place  with  the  first.  The  commonest 
fellow  can  spell  "baker,"  as  well  as  the  ablest  scholar. 
There  must  be  something  that  requires  the  exercise  of 
stronger  mental  powers  to  show  the  difference,  and  when 
you  get  into  a  study  difficult  for  the  class  generally,  that  is 
the  time  to  distinguish  yourself. 

[  From  Linton  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

ATHENS,  March  14,  1(842. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yours  of  yesterday  was  received  this 
morning,  and  I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  answering 
it,  to  let  you  know  that  the  money  you  put  in  it  has  been 
safely  received.  The  conveyance  of  that  letter  seemed 
somewhat  mysterious,  though  I  account  for  it  in  this  way: 
at  home,  yesterday,  you  wrote  it,  sealed  it,  and  on  leaving 
for  Greenesboro  carried  it  to  the  post-office  with  the  inten- 
tion of  mailing  it,  but  in  the  hurry  and  confusion  of  start- 
ing, even  the  fifty  dollars  it  contained  were  not  sufficient  to 
quicken  your  memory.  That  you  originally  intended  to 
mail  it  in  Crawfordville  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  direc- 
tion on  its  back  to  "charge  A.  H.  S. "  with  postage. 
After  writing  that  direction,  you  must  have  forgotten 
the  letter,  or  else  you  changed  your  mind  and  carried  it 
on  to  "  Union  Point,"  hoping  to  meet  with  a  private  con- 
veyance which  would  be  more  safe  than  the  mail.  The 
latter  conjecture  is  extremely  improbable,  however,  unless 
I  consider  that  you  expected  to  find  some  acquaintance  com- 
ing here,  in  which  case  this  service  would  unquestionably 
have  been  preferable  to  mail  conveyance ;  but  that  you 
should  have  more  confidence  in  a  stripling  of  a  stranger, 
than  in  the  mails,  is  somewhat  strange.  It  is  also  a  little 
mysterious  that  when  I  asked  for  only  ten  dollars,  you  have 
sent  me  fifty — for  forty  of  which  I  have  no  use,  and  if 

John  Bird  wants  any,  it  is  more  than  I  know 

The  most  judicious  disposal  I  can  make  of  it,  however,  will, 
I  think,  be  to  divide  it  with  John,  so  that  each  of  us  can 
advance  for  board  twenty  or  twenty-five  dollars. 

Yesterday,  for  the  first  time,  I  heard  a  sermon  from  Judge 
Longstreet.  In  the  pulpit,  to  me  he  appeared  awkward,  and 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  33 

to  come  much  below  himself.  In  preaching,  he  sometimes 
used  Latin  phrases  and  terms  of  expression  unbecoming 
his  place.  In  praying,  for  instance,  I  recollect  he  said  in  a 
very  cold,  conversational  manner,  "Lord,  we  can  hardly 
generalize  our  sins,  much  less  specify  them,"  which,  though 
used  by  a  very  devout  man,  seems  to  be  very  much  op- 
posed to  that  earnestness  and  dignity  with  which  we  should 
address  ourselves  to  a  very  Superior  Being.  Though  his 
manner  is  not  suited  to  the  pulpit,  yet  I  think  even  there 
he  shows  he  has  genius.  Next  Saturday,  I  think  our  society 
will  adjourn  for  the  April  examination.  You  may  expect 
my  next  circular  to  show  me  deficient  in  attending  church. 
In  other  respects,  I  have  been  perfectly  punctual.  I  ex- 
pect to  be  appointed  junior  orator,  and  if  I  should  be  so 
fortunate,  with  your  knowledge  of  my  mind,  would  you 
advise  me  to  attempt  a  grave  and  sensible  speech,  or  one 
of  the  gentle  and  insinuating  kind ;  or  would  you  rather 
still  advise  me  to  be  facetious  and  zvitty  ?. 

In  giving  me  an  answer  to  this  question,  I  beseech  you, 

above  all  things,  to  spare  your  sarcasm 

Yours,  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  March  20,  1842. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yours  of  the  i6th  instant,  acknowledg- 
ing the  receipt  of  the  fifty  dollars,  was  received  upon  my 
return  from  the  Greene  court.  I  presume  you  have  before 
this  received  another  from  me  sent  by  Judge  Dougherty, 
together  with  some  collars  and  bosoms.  This  morning  I 
got  a  letter  from  John,  mailed  yesterday.  To-night  I  go  to 
Augusta,  and  shall  not,  or  do  not  expect  at  least,  to  return 
before  Wednesday.  I  regret  to  hear  that  you  will  probably 
be  deficient  in  anything  in  your  next  circular.  It  is  so  easy 
to  be  punctual  in  attendance  at  church ;  a  deficiency  in  this 
particular  is  the  less  excusable.  I  also  regret  to  hear  you 
speak  of  Rhetoric  as  being  the  hardest  study  you  have,  and 
my  reason  for  regretting  this  is,  that  it  leaves  me  with  the 
impression  that  you  are  not  properly  drilled  in  the  right 
way  of  studying  it.  Rhetoric,  properly  taught,  is  one  of 
the  easiest  and  most  improving  and  useful  studies  of  a  col- 
3* 


34  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

lege  course,  and  to  me  it  was  the  most  interesting.  But  it 
requires  some  training  to  get  in  the  right  way  of  learning 
it.  It  is  to  be  effected  by  system,  method  and  generaliza- 
tion. The  usefulness  of  the  study  depends  mostly  upon 
its  effect  upon  the  mind  in  subjecting  it  to  system  and 
method,  and  the  exercises  it  imposes  upon  the  memory. 
It  should  never  be  taught  or  learned  by  questions  and  an- 
swers. You  might  as  well  attempt  to  teach  the  beauties 
of  a  piece  of  painting,  to  a  mind  unacquainted  with  the 
art  of  catching  the  perspective,  by  a  similar  system  of  in- 
terrogatories. In  the  study  of  rhetoric  usefully,  the  mind 
must  be  first  taught  to  put  forth  its  strongest  faculties,  and 
survey  and  scan  the  entire  subject — that  is,  the  lecture  for 
any  given  recitation.  The  author's  object  being  thoroughly 
understood,  his  manner  of  treating  it,  and  his  various  sub- 
divisions, soon  occur  easily  to  the  mind,  which  naturally 
again  suggest  his  ideas,  and  then  the  task  is  performed,  and 
the  whole  lecture  is  indelibly  impressed  upon  the  mind 
like  a  map  or  chart  spread  out  before  you.  In  mastering 
a  lesson  in  rhetoric,  the  author's  words  should  never  be 
studied;  if  they  occur  readily  to  the  mind  in  reciting,  they 
should  be  used,  but  in  studying,  the  memory  should  not 
be  taxed  to  retain  them ;  the  ideas  and  the  order  in  which 
they  come  in  the  lecture  should  be  the  task  of  the  student. 
The  ideas  he  should  convey  in  his  own  words.  For  when 
he  understands  his  author,  and  knows  what  his  ideas  are, 
the  student  can  always  have  words  at  command  to  commu- 
nicate and  make  known  what  they  are.  But  it  is  a  remark- 
able fact,  that  with  a  little  practice  with  this  kind  of  study, 
so  quick  does  the  memory  become,  and  so  retentive  of  an 
impression,  that  the  student  will  be  enabled  to  repeat 
almost  the  identical  words  of  his  author  from  beginning  to 
end.  This  strengthens  the  memory  and  imparts  vigor  to 
the  mind,  and  enables  the  faculties  to  encompass  a  whole 
subject  at  once,  and  understand  the  whole  and  every  part 
at  the  same  time.  This  is  exceedingly  necessary  for  writers 
and  public  speakers.  When  a  student,  therefore,  goes  to 
recite  a  lesson  in  rhetoric,  or  moral  philosophy,  or  any  such 
studies,  he  should  know  everything  in  his  recitation,  and 
be  able  forthwith,  and  without  hesitation,  to  repeat,  if  called 
on,  every  idea  in  it,  just  as  he  would  tell,  if  called  on, 
what  he  heard  a  man  say  on  any  particular  subject  on  a 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  35 

given  occasion.  As,  for  instance:  suppose  the  lesson  is  in 
Blair,  and  the  subject  is  his  lecture  on  "Style."  At  the 
first  glance,  the  mind  will  scan  his  manner  of  treating  it, 
commencing  with  general  remarks  about  the  diversity  of 
style  in  authors,  then  the  various  kinds  of  style,  and  then 
the  rules  for  forming  a  correct  style.  Under  the  first  head, 
many  smaller  and  subordinate  ideas,  where  the  general 
plan  is  fixed  in  the  mind,  naturally  suggest  themselves  with 
little  or  no  effect :  such  as,  that  all  authors  have  a  peculiar- 
ity of  style  distinctive  in  each,  difference  between  Livy  and 
Tacitus,  etc.,  and  other  ideas  that  fill  up  that  view;  and  the 
different  kinds  of  style,  such  as  concise  and  diffuse,  then 
contrasted,  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each,  and 
the  instances  of  authors  distinguished  for  each,  etc.,  which 
is  all  easily  recollected  and  repeated — that  is,  the  idea,  but 
not  the  words — and  the  same  of  the  weak  and  nervous, 
dry,  plain,  neat,  elegant  and  flowery,  and  then  on  to  the 
simple,  affected  and  vehement:  these  made  all  distinct  in 
their  order  on  the  mind ;  the  filling  up,  or  the  remarks 
made  upon  each,  come  to  the  mind  almost  naturally;  and 
then  comes  the  winding  up  of  the  subject,  the  directions 
for  forming  a  correct  style,  to  wit:  a  thorough  understand- 
ing of  the  subject,  frequent  composition,  acquaintance  with 
good  styles,  or  the  style  of  distinguished  authors — not,  how- 
ever, running  into  imitation,  or  adaptation  of  the  style  to 
the  subject  and  occasion — not  to  be  poetical  when  you 
should  reason ;  and,  lastly,  not  to  permit  the  mind  to  be 
too  much  "engrossed"  with  style  to  the  exclusion  of  mat- 
ter ;  in  other  words,  that,  however  important  style  may  be, 
it  should  always  be  held  subordinate  to  ideas,  and  that 
more  attention  should  be  given  to  thoughts  and  sentiments 
than  mere  style ;  and  with  this  the  task  is  performed.  And 
what  is  more  easy?  When  once  you  get  in  the  way  of  it, 
you  will  find  it  the  easiest  study  learned.  The  mind  will 
take  it  readily,  and  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  amount 
of  learning  you  can  acquire.  To  me,  at  first,  it  appeared 
very  hard,  because  I  had  nobody  to  teach  me ;  but  when 
Olin  became  professor,  and  gave  us  a  few  lectures,  the  whole 
subject  assumed  a  new  appearance,  and  the  study  became 
delightful;  and  when  I  graduated,  there  was  no  subject 
in  Blair,  Paley,  Say,  Evidences  of  Christianity,  Brown's 
Moral  Philosophy,  or  Hedge's  Logic,  that  I  could  not  have 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

told  everything  about  instantly,  or  as  fast  as  I  could  have 
spoken ;  and  I  could  have  commenced  at  the  beginning  ot 
the  catalogue  above  named  and  have  given  substantially 
everything  contained,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  with- 
out interruption  or  suggestion.  The  same  principles  of 
system,  method  and  analysis,  I  brought  to  the  study  of 
law;  and  when  I  was  admitted,  I  could  have  rehearsed 
Blackstone  in  the  same  way.  The  whole  I  attributed  to 
Olin's  method  of  teaching,  and  I  would  not  have  given  the 
advantages  to  myself  derived  from  that  for  all  my  college 
course  besides.  It  has  been  of  more  use  to  me.  It  called 
forth  all  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  taught  it  to  exercise 
its  every  faculty.  My  previous  instructions  were  like  keep- 
ing a  child  forever  sliding  and  crawling.  Olin  made  us 
stand  up  and  walk.  A  little  assistance  was  at  first  neces- 
sary, while  the  knees  were  weak,  and  before  strength  and 
confidence  were  acquired;  but  soon  we  (I  mean  the  whole 
class,  for  there  was  no  student  in  the  class  that  did  not  un- 
derstand the  studies)  began  to  walk  without  assistance,  and 
then  to  run  and  bound,  and  become  the  perfect  masters  of 
all  our  faculties.  I  wish  you  to  adopt  the  right  system  in 
these  studies,  and  to  become  perfectly  master  of  them. 
When  a  subject  is  mentioned,  be  able  to  give  an  outline  of 
the  whole,  and  show  that  you  have  studied  your  author  by 
being  able,  without  assistance,  to  go  on  and  tell  what  he 
says. 

But  I  can  say  no  more  to  you  now.  In  reference  to  the 
subject  of  your  junior  speech,  if  you  should  be  elected 
orator,  I  can  hardly  undertake  to  give  you  any  advice. 
Suppose  you  write  several,  one  of  each  character  you  men- 
tion, and  submit  them  to  me.  I  could  then  give  you  an 
opinion  ;  and,  as  for  the  trouble  of  writing  them,  it  will 
cost  you  only  a  little  time,  and  you  will  be  benefited  by 
the  exercise.  A  subject  of  rather  a  grave  character,  which 
I  think  might  be  treated  well,  is  a  comparison  between  the 
ancients  and  moderns.  The  general  feeling  and  sentiment 
is,  that  the  people  of  this  age — I  mean  in  the  enlightened 
portion  of  the  world — are  superior  to  enlightened  men  of 
older  times.  For  myself,  I  don't  believe  any  such  thing. 
It  is  true,  we  have  some  improvements  in  the  sciences — par- 
ticularly in  astronomy  and  chemistry;  but  in  many  things 
that  make  man  truly  great — that  show  the  powers  of  his 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  37 

mind,  and  the  boldness  of  his  conceptions,  and  the  high 
and  lofty  sentiments  of  his  soul — I  think  the  ancients  were 
greatly  our  superiors.  Look  at  their  works,  their  build- 
ings and-  temples,  and  various  monuments  of  their  great- 
ness, which,  after  withstanding  the  ravages  of  centuries, 
are  even  still  unequaled  by  anything  that  man,  in  subse- 
quent time,  has  done  or  accomplished.  Why,  even  the 
public  roads  leading  from  the  city,  constructed  and  made 
before  the  Julian  day,  are  now  better  and  more  substantial 
than  any  in  the  United  States,  or  perhaps  in  England  or 
France.  A  part  of  a  bridge  is  yet  standing  over  the  Dan- 
ube, which  was  built  soon  after  the  time  of  the  Caesars. 
What  a  people  must  they  have  been  to  leave  such  vestiges 
behind  them !  Why,  if  this  country  should  be  overrun  by 
savages,  as  others  have  been,  what  have  we  that  would  re- 
main one  thousand  years  to  tell  that  such  a  race  as  ours  ever 
existed?  But  Rome  is  only  a  small  part:  Greece,  Persia, 
Egypt  and  Assyria,  all  come  in  for  their  portion  of  reflec- 
tion. What  design  and  architectural  skill  must  it  have  re- 
quired to  erect  such  lasting  monuments!  And  the  philos- 
ophy of  Cato,  Cicero,  Caesar,  Seneca,  Tacitus,  Xenophon, 
Solon,  Plato,  Socrates  and  Solomon,  has  never  i>een  ex- 
celled. I  should  not  have  omitted  Aristotle.  I  have  said 
nothing  of  their  generals.  The  whole  subject  presents  a 
wide  field,  and,  if  properly  treated,  might  make  an  inter- 
esting topic ;  but  I  can  only  now  suggest,  and  must  con- 
clude by  saying  that  I  believe  the  people  in  those  days 
were  literally  giants  to  what  they  are  now. 

I  write  in  great  haste,  and  do  not  know  whether  you  will 

be  able  to  read  all  or  not Write  often,  and 

with  more  pains.     Try  to  improve  your  hand-writing. 

Those  who  have  seen  the  hand-writing  of  Mr.  A.  II. 
Stephens  will  smile  at  the  last  injunction.  Then,  as  now, 
it  was  a  task  to  the  unpracticed  eye  to  decipher  his  manu- 
script. It  has,  however,  the  merit  of  uniformity — uniformly 
illegible. 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  June  2,  1842. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  letter  of  the  2/th  ultimo  was  re- 
ceived this  morning.  I  was  absent  yesterday  and  the  day 
before,  at  Warrenton,  attending  the  trial  of  a  negro,  charged 


38  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

with  the  offense  of  assault  and  battery,  with  intent  to  mur- 
der, on  a  white  man.  I  defended  him,  and  he  was  ac- 
quitted. But  what  I  meant,  in  commencing,  was  to  say 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  absence,  your  letter  was  not 
received  until  it  had  been  here  nearly  two  days.  In  refer- 
ence to  your  speaking-  at  commencement,  I  can  only  say 
that  you  must  not  suffer  yourself  to  vacillate  one  moment 
between  speaking  and  getting  yourself  excused.  You  must 
speak — that  is,  if  you  are  chosen  (and,  by-the-by,  you  did 
not  state  whether  this  was  the  case  or  not) — and  you  better 
set  right  out  in  good  earnest  to  writing.  There  is  nothing 
that  a  student  is  more  apt  to  do  than  to  postpone  the  duty 
of  composition,  and  no  intellectual  habit  is  more  injurious 
when  one  such  is  once  acquired.  The  mind  should  be  ac- 
tive and  industrious,  and  never  be  suffered  to  grow  slothful 
and  indolent;  and  it  is  much  easier  in  one's  business  to  keep 
ahead  of  time  than  it  is  to  keep  anything  like  up  with  its 
rapid  march  when  once  thrown  ever  so  little  in  the  rear. 
You  will  lose  nothing  by  having  your  speech  well  com- 
mitted, even  a  month  before  commencement,  and  it  should 
be  a  rule  of  your  life,  established  now,  in  this  your  first  ap- 
pearance before  the  public,  never  to  appear  unless  you  appear 
well,  and  also  always  to  appear  whenever  you  can.  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,"  saith  the  Scripture, 
"and  the  violent  take  it  by  force."  So  it  is  with  the  world. 
The  most  resolute  and  inflexible  bear  off  the  palms  and 
crowns  in  both.  A  man's  character,  standing,  reputa- 
tion, fame  and  distinction,  are  the  works  of  his  own 
hands,  and  the  industrious,  active,  vigilant  and  energetic, 
build  to  themselves  great  names;  while  the  lazy,  careless 
and  indolent  live  but  to  die,  and,  without  hope  or  care  ever 
to  be  known  hereafter,  permit  the  meed  of  fame  to  be 
seized  by  the  more  eager  and  violent,  and,  in  their  own  ob- 
scured littleness,  soon  pass  away  in  one  general,  common 
oblivion.  Let  not  this  be  the  character  of  your  ambition  ; 
but  in  contests  for  honorable  distinction,  ever  be  found 
amongst  the  first  of  the  foremost.  " Nihil  ardimni  est  ipsc 
I'oleiitibus,  sea7,  niJiil  potest  fieri  illis  invitis."  In  the  selec- 
tion of  a  subject  for  an  oration,  or  an  address,  upon  any 
occasion,  you  should  pursue  the  rules  laid  down  in  Blair; 
and,  in  the  first  place,  make  choice  of  one  suited  to  the  oc- 
casion, the  time,  the  audience,  etc.  ;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  such  a  one  as  will  allow  as  much  of  method  as  pos- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  39 

siblc  in  its  treatment — that  is,  which  will  require  styles  and 
manner  of  speaking  in  its  different  parts  or  branches,  such 
as  the  negative,  descriptive,  argumentative,  and,  as  Blair 
has  it,  the  patJictic  or  sublime.  Every  discourse  should 
have  some  part  devoted  exclusively  to  the  excitement  01 
the  passions  and  emotions.  This  is  the  work  of  fancy  and 
the  imagination,  and  the  subject  chosen  should  furnish  the 
material  for  the  occasional  flights  or  colorings.  The  error 
of  most  young  men  is  trying  to  make  their  orations  abound 
with  eloquence,  and  nothing  else,  and  hence,  high-sound- 
ing words  and  animated  descriptions  from  beginning  to  end. 
The  consequence  is,  in  trying  to  be  eloquent  in  everything, 
they  are  eloquent  in  nothing.  I  can  hardly,  at  this  time, 
suggest  any  subject  to  you ;  I  am  in  too  great  haste. 
"Time"  is  a  good  subject;  the  measure  of  existence — its 
origin,  or  its  eternity — its  history — the  creation  and  destruc- 
tion of  worlds  other  than  this — the  changes  or  revolutions 
it  has  traced  on  earth — its  passing  events,  destinies,  dura- 
tion, etc.:  thoughts  growing  out  of  all  these  views  might- 
be  presented  in  an  interesting  garb.  The  greatest  objec- 
tion to  it  is  that  it  savors  too  much  of  the  "all  eloquent" 

order 

In  my  travels  this  Spring,  I  have  in  different  sections 
found  the  \voods  ali've  with  the  singing  locusts ;  they  were 
in  some  parts  of  Wilkes  and  Lincoln,  and  throughout  the 
western  counties  from  Morgan,  millions  of  millions.  It  is 

said  they  appear  every  fourteen  years 

Affectionately,  A.  H.  S. 

[From  same  to  same.] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  June  5,  1842. 

DEAR  BROTHER — In  reference  to  the 

riot,  I  did  not  exactly  understand  from  your  letter  whether 
John  Bird  was  amongst  those  on  the  evening  of  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  temperance  lecture,  who  fired  the  pistol, 
and  went  back  in  pursuit  of  the  officers,  etc.,  or  wh ether 
he  barely  left  the  church  at  the  same  time  with  others  who 
went  into  the  excesses.  I  should  be  utterly  astonished  to 
learn  that  he  was  in  company  with  and  countenancing  men 
engaged  in  acts  and  proceedings  so  utterly  disgraceful. 
But  more  on  this  subject,  in  reference  to  him,  I  will  not  say 


4O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

to  you.  I  will  write  him  a  letter.  It  seems  strange  to  me 
to  think  in  what  way  the  vision  will  become  warped  some- 
times in  its  observation  of  men  and  things,  and  how,  from 
familiar  association,  or  some  other  cause,  conduct  the  most 
improper,  ungentlemanly,  disreputable,  and  even  base  and 
criminal,  can  be  looked  upon  as  common-place,  and  very 
little  out  of  the  way.  Now,  I  would  not  have  a  student  to 
denounce,  or  even  make  mention  of  the  conduct  of  a  fellow- 
student,  however  low  and  contemptible  it  might  be;  for 
it  is  none  of  his  business;  it  is  even  dishonorable  to  do 
it ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  from  the  very  bottom  of  his 
soul  should  he  loathe  and  detest  a  mean  deed,  or  anything 
that  savors  of  disreputable  or  dishonorable  conduct.  A 
man  of  correct  principles  moves  on  in  his  own  sphere,  and 
permits  others  to  take  the  same  course  ;  and  while  his  leads 
to  elevation  and  refinement,  he  lets  them  (pursuing  theirs) 
wallow  in  the  dirt  and  mire  if  they  choose.  It  is  true,  that 
philanthropy  will  dictate  and  urge  him  to  relieve  all  the 
misery  he,  can,  and  by  example,  persuasion  and  advice, 
(when  it  can  be  properly  given)  to  prevent  as  much  suffer- 
ing, and  misery,  and  degradation,  as  possible ;  but  never 
will  such  a  man  be  brought  to  bend  and  stoop  to  infamy. 
It  is  certainly  a  difficult  matter,  since  so  few  people  accom- 
plish it,  to  pursue  the  even  tenor  of  one's  way  in  this  life, 
commingling  with  men  amidst  all  their  vanities,  and  contra- 
dictions, and  excesses,  and  improprieties  in  conduct  and 
character,  without  giving  improper  offense  to  an}',  and  se- 
curing the  esteem  of  all,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  maintain 
stern,  fixed  and  inflexible  principles  of  honor  and  integrity; 
and  yet,  it  is  not  only  possiplc,  but  easy;  and  in  this  con- 
sists not  only  the  secret  of  life,  but  the  first  principles  of 
politeness  and  gentility,  and  the  very  soul  of  benevolence 
and  philanthropy.  A  man  should  study  it.  It  is  the  lever 
by  which  the  moral  world  is  raised.  Some  men  have  no 
talent  for  this  thing.  Indeed,  most  have  not;  and  hence, 
you  see  them  arrayed  class  against  class,  each  hating  the 
other  with  a  moral  enmity.  One  is  guilty  of  some  impro- 
priety; the  more  righteous,  in  his  own  estimation,  cuts 
his  acquaintance — denounces  him — and  would  as  soon  be 
caught  with  a  leper  as  found  in  his  company;  now,  this  is 
wrong  and  foolish.  No  man  is  so  bad  that  he  has  no  good 
qualities,  and  even  from  the  thistle,  tansy  and  rue,  and 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  4! 

hoar-hound,  honey  is  extracted :  so,  even  from  the  worst 
man,  some  good  thing  can  be  drawn  out;  but  the  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  difference  between  being  set  against  a  man 
and  his  improper  act.  and  necessarily  denouncing  or  cen- 
suring any  one  guilty  of  such  an  act.  It  is  the  difference 
between  being  utterly  adverse  to  becoming  a  leper  and  a 
disposition  to  kick  any  one  who  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  be 
one.  Now,  I  hold  that  a  man  might  almost  sooner  die  than 
be  a  leper;  and  yet,  be  so  far  from  injuring  one  that  is  as 
that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  relieve,  assist  and  com- 
fort the  sufferer ;  and  so  with  morals  and  intercourse  with 
mankind.  A  man  may,  from  his  very  soul,  abhor  a  princi- 
ple, and  sooner  die  than  possess  it,  or  encourage,  or  coun- 
tenance it  in  others,  and  yet,  treat  with  civility  and  kind- 
ness the  most  miserable  and  wretched  victims  of  its  devel- 
opment. Now,  that  you  may  understand  me  fully  upon 
this  subject,  I  would  remark,  that  when  I  speak  of  the 
"  disgraceful  conduct"  of  those  engaged  in  the  riot,  I  speak 
of  it  as  I  would  of  a  "loathsome  leper" — not  that  I 
would  shun,  or  scorn,  or  condemn,  or  because  I  think  my- 
self better,  but  because  it  is  a  most  disagreeable  and  fatal 
malady ;  and  as  I  would  be  kind  and  urbane  to  the  bodily 
sufferer,  so  I  would,  in  the  other  instance,  to  him  whom  I 
should  consider  as  destitute  of  principle  more  necessary 
for  honorable  action,  than  all  that  is  lost  in  the  life  is  nec- 
essary for  good  and  vigorous  health.  I  should  be  kind  and 
agreeable,  and  associate  with  such  companions — or,  in  other 
words,  be  not  distant,  or  morose,  or  Pharisaical ;  and 
while -I  would  pass  the  individuals  themselves  this  way,  and 
without  the  slightest  duplicity,  I  would  have  the  most  per- 
fect contempt  and  detestation  of  the  principles  that  could 
induce  any  one  to  be  guilty  of  such  conduct.  This  is  what 
I  hold  to  be  regard  for  one's  character — stern  and  inflexible 
honor.  Now,  what  could  a  set  of  young  men  imagine  more 
disgraceful  to  themselves  than  wrhooping  and  hallooing  in 
the  streets  of  a  town  like  a  set  of  savages  in  a  forest?  What 
is  there  more  unbecoming  and  ungentlemanly?  Particu- 
larly in  those  who  are  reaping  the  advantages  of  the  best 
school  in  the  country — to  improve  their  minds  as  well  as 
morals — and  to  make  themselves  better,  or  better  qualified 
for  business  in  life,  than  the  great  mass  of  their  contempo- 
raries? Young  men,  whose  ambition  it  should  be  to  be- 

4* 


42  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

come  the  exemplars  for  their  fellows,  and  for  future  men  to 
follow?  And  then,  as  for  blowing  horns,  getting  drunk  in 
the  square,  or  old  field,  and  throwing  rocks  at  the  vener- 
able preceptor,  to  whom  they  are  paying  so  much  to  be 
taught,  besides  the  loss  of  their  time,  etc.,  how  utterly 
little  and  low,  and  beneath  a  man  whose  mind  is  as  great  as 
a  mustard-seed !  Worse  conduct  could  not  be  expected 
from  a  set  of  negroes — as  nican,  I  never  knew  any  of  these 
guilty  of ;  and  shall  a  young  gentleman,  a  collegian,  have  no 
better  principles  instilled  into  him  than  those  by  which  the 
meanest  of  slaves  are  actuated?  Is  this  the  effect  of  ed- 
ucation— this  the  refinement  of  the  schools — this  the 
perfection  of  intellectual  training — this  the  end  for  which 
so  much  time  is  lost  and  money  spent?  Oh,  shame!  that 
boys  are  not  better  taught — that  they  have  no  better  minds 
to  think  and  reason  with  themselves,  and  see  the  gross  im- 
propriety of  such  conduct!  But  it  needs  not  thought  or 
reason :  it  seems  to  me  that  brute  instinct  would  almost  be 
sufficient  to  restrain  them  from  such  conduct.  But  the 
whole,  I  suspect,  is  excused  on  the  ground  of  the  insult — 
the  threat  of  the  citizens  to  prosecute  if  certain  impro- 
prieties were  repeated.  This  was  a  kind  of  censure  of  pre- 
vious conduct  that  could  not  be  borne,  and  hence  the  row. 
Well,  all  that  is  just  of  the  same  character.  The  first  dis- 
order was  either  censurable,  or  not.  If  censurable,  of  course 
a  repetition,  with  great  excesses,  was  no  way  to  make  the 
proper  amende.  If  they  were  not  censurable — if  they  had 
behaved  like  honorable  gentlemen — it  was  certainly  a  very 
bad  way  of  proving  it  by  perpetrating  such  very  dishonor- 
able acts.  If  the  first  disturbance  was  from  momentary 
feeling,  and  without  an}*  intentional  or  concerted  disorder, 
after  it  was  known  that  their  conduct  was  misconstrued, 
they  should  rather  have  felt  mortified  at  so  dishonorable  an 
action  being  imputed  to  them,  and  their  endeavor  should 
have  been  to  show  that  it  was  wrong,  and  this  should  have 
been  done  by  their  exemplary  and  good  conduct.  That  is 
the  way  to  purge  a  man's  self  from  a  charge  of  dishonor. 
But  I  think  this  narration  has  also  run  out  far  enough. 


The  preceding  letter  was  evoked  by  a  memorable  disturb- 
ance which  occurred  between  some  of  the  citizens  of  Ath- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  43 

ens  and  a  portion  of  the  Faculty  on  the  one  side,  and  a 
portion  of  the  students  of  the  college  on  the  other.  It 
threatened  for  a  while  to  become  quite  serious,  and  was  a 
matter  of  painful  concern  to  the  friends  of  the  institution 
throughout  the  State.  As  usual  in  like  cases,  neither  party 
was  wholly  right  nor  wholly  wrong.  Young  Stephens  at- 
tached himself  with  neither:  he  maintained  the  interests  of 
law  and  good  order,  and  contributed  largely,  by  example 
and  counsel,  to  restore  the  peace. 

[  From  same  to  same.  J 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  August  7,  1842. 

Your  circulars  have   not  come  to 

hand  yet;  when  you  find  out,  I  wish  to  know  who  got  bet- 
ter, or  as  good  circulars  as  you.  Let  me  know  this  with- 
out fail.  I  will  send  you  the  books  by  the  first  opportu- 
nity. You  must  continue  to  apply  yourself  laboriously. 
You  have  but  one  step  now  to  take  to  place  you  in  the 
world  amongst  men,  and  you  have  much  to  learn  yet  to  fit 
you  for  that  place.  Pay  strict  attention  to  your  writing, 
and  learn  within  the  next  twelve  months,  if  you  live,  to 
write  a  good  hand.  You  will  never  have  time  or  chance  to 
form  your  hand  after  that.  Tell  John  to  pay  more  atten- 
tion to  his  writing.  He  had  better  write  from  a  copy  every 
day.  Remember  me  to  Dr.  Church,  and  Professors  Hull 
and  Waddell,  and  tell  them  I  stood  the  travel  very  well,  ex- 
cept the  heat,  which  was  oppressive  for  a  short  time. 

[From  same  to  same.  | 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  August  16,  1842. 

I  am  up  to-day.  Sunday  I  was  confined  to  my  room  in 
consequence  of  a  blister.  I  stay  at  home,  however,  and 
attend  to  no  business,  except  writing  letters,  and  giving  or 
joining  in  some  consultation  about  the  business  of  the  office. 
I  will  keep  you  advised  of  my  situation,  and  I  want  you,  by 
all  means,  not  to  permit  yourself  to  grow  or  become  uneasy. 
I  don't  feel  so  myself,  and  do  not  want  anybody  to  feel  so 
on  my  account.  Life  and  death,  and  everything,  should  be 


44  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

considered  and  regarded  philosophically.  We  have  all  got 
to  die.  The  end  of  all  of  us  will  come  in  due  season. 

Then,  why  should  we  suffer  any  uneasiness 

from  any  indication  of  the  immediate  approach  of  death, 
when  we  know  it  must  come  in  due  season?  Philosophy 
teaches  us  to  be  looking  fonvard  to  this  event  throughout 
life,  and  to  direct  all  of  our  pursuits  and  pleasures  in  refer- 
ence to  this  ultimate  end.  This  consummation  of  earthly 
existence,  and  with  life  thus  spent,  to  die  is  but  to  take  a 
journey.  Those  who  are  left  behind  will  soon  follow,  and 
in  reference  to  my  particular  friends  and  relations,  I  hardly 
know  whether  it  would  be  more  agreeable  to  me  to  take 
my  turn  in  advance,  or  to  go  after.  Be,  therefore,  not  dis- 
turbed, because,  in  the  first  place,  I  think  there  is  no  imme- 
diate cause  for  it,  and  perhaps  none  will  occur ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, it  is  wrong  in  principle. 


[From  same  to  same.] 

CRAWFORDVILLK,  January  21,  1843. 

It  is  a  general  feeling  in  most  of  our  writers  to  pay  too 
little  attention  to  style — to  the  selection  and  arrangement 
of  their  words,  and  the  structure  of  their  sentences.  And 
it  is  a  failing  the  more  considerable,  because  it  can  be  so 
easily  avoided.  It  would  require  only  a  little  more  labor, 
and  perhaps  at  first,  or  in  the  formation  and  acquisition  of 
style,  a  little  more  time.  But  what  are  these  when  com- 
pared with  the  additional  beauty  and  usefulness  of  their 
compositions,  imparted  by  such  a  finishing  touch.  The 
application  or  moral  (as  the  preachers  say)  of  this  episode 
is,  that  you  should  pay  great  attention  to  your  composition, 
and  learn  to  write,  as  you  would  move  or  walk,  neither 
clumsily,  lazily,  nor  awkwardly,  but  with  ease,  grace  and 
elegance 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLK,  June  14,  1843. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  two  letters  of  the  loth,  and  the 
other  of  the  I2th  instant,  were  both  received  by  me  this 
morning,  and  I  send  you  an  answer  nou>,  as  I  shall  have  no 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  45 

other  opportunity  of  doing  so  before  my  return  from  Mil- 
ledgeville,  for  I  expect  to  start  there  to-morrow.  My  ob- 
ject in  going  down  so  early  is  to  attend  to  the  granting  of 
some  lands  for  a  number  of  friends  before  the  meeting  of 
the  convention,  as  I  fear  there  will  be  too  great  a  press  of 
that  kind  of  business  in  the  offices,  after  the  general  assem- 
blage of  that  body,  to  have  it  attended  to  with  order  and 
promptness.  I  shall  be  absent  some  six  or  seven  days. 
This,  therefore,  in  all  probability,  will  be  the  last  letter  I 
shall  write  to  you  until  after  your  final  examination,  and 
your  college  course — at  least,  so  far  as  its  studies  arc  con- 
cerned— will  have  been  brought  to  a  close.  The  occasion, 
I  need  not  add,  to  me,  is  one  not  without  its  interests,  and 
the  associations  which  the  reflection  awakens  fail  not  to  en- 
hance that  interest.  It  seems  like  a  short  time  since  the 
memorable  night  I  bade  you  and  John  adieu,  as  you  took 
your  leave  to  enter  upon  that  adventurous  scene  from  which 
you  are  now  about  to  so  shortly  return.  To  me  the  term 
of  four  years  in  prospect  then  seemed  long — and  no  doubt 
much  longer  to  you — but  now  they  are  passed ;  the  whole 
is  as  quickly  counted  as  the  incidents  of  yesterday — that  is, 
if  we  consult  our  conciousness  only  of  their  transit ;  but 
if  we  reflect  and  consider  awhile,  and  look  about  at  the 
great  changes  effected  around  us  and  in  us,  our  thoughts 
and  actions,  and  in  the  relations  of  individuals,  families, 
communities,  and  the  country  at  large,  or  even  in  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  itself,  the  period  magnifies,  the  field  of 
contemplation  enlarges,  and  it  seems  strange  that  so  much 
could  have  been  wrought  in  so  short  a  time.  You  were 
then  young,  inexperienced,  fatherless,  motherless,  and 
almost  friendless.  Well  do  I  recollect  with  what  solicitude 
and  intensity  of  feeling,  known  only  to  myself,  I  fitted  you 
out  for  your  departure  for  college,  and  then,  when  all  things 
were  ready,  the  hour  arrived,  and  the  last  words  were 
spoken,  and,  in  a  few  moments,  when  the  whirling  car 
rushed  recklessly  on  in  the  darkness,  and  I  returned  lonely 
to  my  room ;  how  I  committed  you  and  your  fortunes  into 
the  hands  of  that  kind  and  mysterious  Providence,  who 
governs  the  hearts  of  men  and  rules  the  destiny  of  nations — 
hardly  permitting  myself  at  that  time,  owing  to  great  fee- 
bleness of  health,  to  indulge  the  hope  of  ever  living  to  see 
the  time  of  your  graduation.  But  now  your  course  is 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

nearly  ended,  and  that  period  has  almost  arrived.  In  a  few 
short  weeks,  if  you  should  live,  your  academic  education 
will  be  finished,  and  you  must  take  your  stand  among  men. 
Have  you  ever  seriously  considered,  and  fully  realized  in 
thought,  how  near  you  are  to  so  important  a  crisis  in  life? 
If  not,  it  is  time  the  subject,  with  all  its  gravity  and  re- 
sponsibility, was  kept  constantly  in  view.  Would  that  I 
had  time  and  space  to  present  it  in  its  various  shapes.  The 
past  has  been  pleasant:  the  future  is  active.  You  have 
been  agreeably  entertained  in  looking  on  the  world  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  as  a  stranger,  a  disinterested  person,  philosophiz- 
ing, perhaps,  upon  its  various  characters,  its  pursuits,  its 
inconsistencies,  its  passions,  strifes,  struggles,  and  teach- 
ings ;  but  your  position  is  now  to  be  changed,  and  all  these 
have  to  be  encountered.  Some  liken  a  college-life,  which 
you  are  just  finishing,  to  the  world  in  miniature,  and  the 
illustration  is  not  without  some  aptness;  but  it  is  the  min- 
iature of  the  smooth  sailing  upon  the  unruffled  surface  of 
the  broad  river,  or  the  still,  widening  bay  just  before  it 
issues  from  its  restricted  channel,  and  the  protecting  em- 
brace of  its  contiguous  banks  and  lofty  capes,  into  the  wide 
expanse  of  waters  just  ahead,  compared  with  the  breasting 
and  weathering  the  heaving  waves  and  surging  billows  that 
ever  heave,  and  roll,  and  surge  on  the  ocean's  bosom. 
Life's  passage  is  over  a  tempestuous  sea,  and  well-con- 
structed, well-manned,  and  well-piloted  is  the  gallant  barque 
that  safely  makes  the  voyage.  Many  spread  their  sails 
joyously  to  the  courting  breeze,  but  few  reach  the  wished- 
for  haven.  Be  not  inattentive,  then,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment. It  is  an  important  period  of  your  life.  You  never 
did,  and  never  will  stand  in  more  need  of  cool  thought, 
sober  reflection,  and  good  judgment,  than  at  present.  Let 
no  passion  get  the  sway  or  control  of  your  feelings.  Life 
is  just  before  you,  and  the  part  you  act  in  it  has  now  to  be 
chosen,  and  the  character  you  wish  to  sustain  is  to  be 
formed 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

CRAWFORDVII.LK,  July  2,  1843. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  letter  by  John   Bird  was  duly  re- 
ceived, and  I  should  have  answered  it  before  now,  but  for 


JUDGE    LJNTON    STEPHENS.  47 

my  absence,  first  to  Washington  and  then  to  Augusta.  I 
was  indeed  gratified  to  learn  th.it  you  had  received  the_/?nV 
honor  in  your  class — not  that  I  attach  the  least  importance 
to  the  mere  show  or  eclat  of  such  a  distinction — on  the  con- 
trary, there  are  great  evils  attending  it — but  gratified  to 
have  this  evidence,  that  you  had  not  misspent  your  time, 
and  that  during  the  four  years  of  your  absence,  you  had 
not  been  unmindful  of  the  first  of  all  duties — your  duty  to 
yourself  in  the  cultivation  of  your  mind  and  your  morals, 
and  in  fitting  yourself  for  usefulness  in  those  scenes  of  life 
upon  which  you  are  now  about  so  soon  to  enter.  With 
these  reflections,  I  hope  you  will  look  upon  your  distinc- 
tion with  the  same  views  as  I  do.  In  rendering  yourself 
worthy  of  it,  you  have  but  done  what  you  ought  to  have 
done,  and  deserve  the  same  commendation  due  to  all  peo- 
ple who  pursue  a  similar  course  of  conduct,  and  nothing 
more.  From  a  want  of  a  correct  way  of  viewing  such 
things,  many  young  men,  who  otherwise,  doubtless,  would 
have  succeeded  well  in  life,  have  been  utterly  ruined  by 
being  the  favored  subjects  upon  whom  such  distinctions 
have  been  bestowed.  Their  judgments  are  not  good.  The 

nature  of  true  honor  by  them  is  not  understood 

I  say  that  cool  and  collected  forethought,  which  dwells 
upon  all  these  things  in  such  persons,  is  entirely  wanting. 
I  need  hardly  add,  therefore,  that  you  should  by  no  means 
suffer  yourself  to  grow  the  least  inflated ;  and  if  such  feel- 
ings at  any  time  rise,  you  have  nothing  to  do  to  repress 
them  but  to  look  to  the  future.  Your  Avork  has  just  begun. 
The  first  step  has  just  been  reached;  the  whole  mountain 

of  life  has  yet  to  be  ascended 

Idleness  is  the  sure  path — yea,  the  highway — to  ruin,  and 
bad  associations  and  companions  grow  around  and  over- 
power one  as  imperceptibly,  and  as  irresistibly,  as  the  glow 
and  full  force  of  passion  itself.  I  think  it  possible  I  may 
be  in  Athens  during  the  corning  or  ensuing  week;  in  the 
meantime,  write  me  immediately  on  the  reception  of  this; 
or  you  may  wait  until  after  the  show  of  the  Fourth  is  over, 
and  let  me  know  how  it  passed  off,  and  on  what  subject 

you  intend  to  write  your  commencement  speech 

I  have  never  read  Gibbon  regularly  through — for  want  of 
time  only.  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  consult  him  upon 
particularly  points,  and  have  been  pleased  with  him  as  an 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

author.  His  style  is  good,  though  labored.  He  had  great 
bitterness  of  feeling  towards  the  religionists  of  his  day, 
which  shows  itself  very  prominently  in  several  parts  of  his 
writings.  Affectionately,  A.  H.  S. 

In  December,  1843,  Linton  Stephens  visited  Washington 
City,  and  spent  the  winter  there  with  his  brother,  Hon.  A. 
H.  Stephens,  who  was  then  in  Congress.  He  watched,  with 
interest  and  instruction,  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress  and 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  formed  acquaintance  with  many 
of  the  illustrious  of  the  land.  It  may  be  questioned  whether 
any  period  of  his  life,  of  equal  duration,  was  more  privi- 
leged or  more  profitably  spent.  In  1 844,  he  began  the  study 
of  the  law  under  the  tuition  of  Robert  Toombs,  Esq.,  at 
Washington,  Georgia.  Mr.  Toombs  had  then  scarcely 
passed  his  third  decade;  but  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
profession  in  the  State,  both  as  a  jurist  and  an  advocate. 
Linton  remained  there,  prosecuting  his  legal  studies,  with 
occasional  interruptions,  nearly  a  year.  In  December, 
1844,  he  was  entered  as  a  student  of  the  Law-school 
of  the  University  of  Virginia.  That  department  of  the 
University  had  been  in  high  celebrity,  under  the  su- 
pervision of  the  late  Henry  St.  George  Tucker.  At  first, 
Judge  Tucker  does  not  seem  to  have  impressed  young 
Stephens  very  favorably,  either  as  an  able  and  profound 
lawyer,  or  as  a  person  of  uncommon  preceptorial  gifts ; 
nor  was  he  slow  or  stint  in  expressing  his  disappointment — 
dissatisfaction — almost  disgust.  Longer  observation  and 
better  acquaintance,  however,  seemed  to  greatly  modify, 
if  not  entirely  eradicate,  his  earlier  unfavorable  impressions 
of  Judge  Tucker's  juridical  ability  and  attainments,  and  of 
his  fitness  for  the  office  of  instruction. 

Anterior  to  his  matriculation,  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1844  transpired.  The  following  letters  may  not  be  un- 
interesting to  the  reader  who  can  recall  the  high  party  ex- 
citement of  that  day: 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  49 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  May  4,  1 844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  barely  have  time  to  say  to  you  that  I 
am  well,  and  that  I  am  in  receipt  of  yours,  acknowledging 
the  reception  of  my  two  letters,  that  seem  to  have  met 
with  some  extraordinary  delay  in  their  passage.  I  was 
glad  to  hear  from,  and  to  know  that  you  were  well.  I  got 
back  from  Baltimore  yesterday.  Berrien,  Dawson,  T.  B. 
King,  General  Clinch,  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Lumpkin,  Colo- 
nel Sayre,  Colonel  Joshua  Hill,  Toombs,  Harris  (  a  young 
man  of  Elbert)  and  myself  were  the  Georgia  delegation  in 
the  nomination.  Chappell  was  chosen  to  fill  Kenan's  va- 
cancy, but  declined  to  act.  An  immense  concourse  of  peo- 
ple were  assembled  on  the  second,  the  day  of  the  conven- 
tion for  ratification.  The  like  was  never  before  seen  in  this 
country.  The  Harrison  ratification  convention,  in  the  same 
place,  in  1840,  was  not  to  be  compared  to  it;  nor  the  great 
gathering  at  Bunker  Hill  last  summer,  as  1  am  assured  by 
those  who  witnessed  each  of  them.  It  is  impossible  to 
give  any  adequate  or  correct  estimate  of  the  number  pres- 
ent; the  nearest  approximation  to  truth,  I  think,  is  to  say 
that  there  was  "a  great  multitude  that  no  man  could  num- 
ber;" not  less  than  thirty  thousand,  I  think,  were  in  the 
procession,  and  they  were  not  missed  from  the  crowd  when 
they  left.  They  were  not  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  arid  the 
best  reflection  is,  that  but  one  feeling,  one  spirit,  and  one 
hope,  animated  and  actuated  every  breast  in  the  "  count- 
less thousands."  You  will  learn  before  you  get  this  that 
Clay  and  Frelinghuysen  were  nominated  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  etc.  .  .  .  The  debate  on  the  tariff  is 
still  going  on  in  the  House.  Cobb  and  Chappell,  of  our 
State,  have  spoken  ;  none  of  the  rest  yet.  Not  much  said 
now  about  Texas.  The  treaty  will  get  but  few  votes  in  the 
Senate.  I  have  no  time  to  say  more.  I  must  tell  you, 
however,  a  good  anecdote  on  our  friend  Cobb.  You  know 
"Mr.  McFadden  "  is  a  pet-name  with  him,  which  he  has 
made  famous,  and  you  know  that  hack-drivers  always  know 
everybody  in  town — that  is,  ask  them  if  they  will  drive  you  to 
such  or  such  a  place,  they  always  say,  "  Yes — yes,  sir,  "  etc. 
Well,  Cobb,  in  the  usual  way,,  walked  up  to  a  company  of 
hack-drivers,  asked  them  if  an}7  of  them  could  drive  him 

5* 


^O  WOGRAl'HICAI.    SKETCH    OK 

to  Mr.  McFadden's.  All  sang  out,  "Yes,  sir — yes,  sir;" 
and  Cobb  hopped  into  one  of  them — the  finest  one — and 
was  soon  closed  in,  and  off  rolled  the  hack.  After  a  while, 
the  hackman  asked,  "  Where  was  it  you  wanted  to  go  to?" 
Answered  Cobb,  "To  Mr.  McFadden's."  "What  street 
does  he  live  on?"  asked  the  hackman.  "I  don't  know," 
said  Cobb;  "you  told  me  you  could  carry  me  there,  and 
you  must."  So  round  about  town  he  got  a  good  ride,  look- 
ing out  for  Mr.  McFadden's 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  GA.,  May  11,  1844. 

DKAR  BROTHER — I  was  truly  rejoiced  to  get  a  letter  from 
yon.  yesterday  morning;  it  was  like  a  green  spot  in  a  des- 
ert. But  I  find  again  that  my  long  failure  to  hear  from 
you  has  been  owing  more  to  the  mails  than  to  you;  (your 
letter  was  dated  fourth  instant),  so  hereafter,  whenever  I 
get  in  a  dearth  of  letters,  I  will  not  complain,  but  suffer 
in  silence.  I  have  read  several  descriptions  of  the  Balti- 
more Convention.  I  suppose  it  was  a  grand  show.  But 
neither  you  nor  the  papers  have  said  anything  about  any 
speech  of  yourself  or  Toombs.  Mrs.  Toombs  has  written 
home  that  the  latter  made  a  speech  at  Baltimore — at  what 
time  I  didn't  hear.  The  people  here  expected  to  hear 
from  both  of  you.  I  didn't  regard  it  as  certain,  but  thought 
it  probable,  that  you  would  give  the  crowd  a  specimen  of 
Georgia  eloquence.  But  in  that  immense  multitude,  I 
suppose  you  were  a  small  fish,  and  remained  unseen.  Reese 
is  very  extravagant  in  praise  of  Webster's  speech.  It  was 
undoubtedly  a  good  confession  of  faith  ;  but  the  sketch  in 
the  papers  doesn't  show  it  to  have  been  anything  else. 
The  prodigal  has  returned,  and  of  course  the  fatted  calf 
must  be  slain.  Already  they  begin  to  call  it  his  great 
speech.  I  have  no  time  to  write  more.  It  is  nearly  twelve 
o'clock-,  and  as  I  am  going  home  this  evening,  I  must  be- 
gin to  make  a  little  preparation.  I  go  up  to  see  that  all 
your  law  books  are  care-fully  started  to  brother  John.  Me 
lias  written  that  you  had  consented  to  let  him  have  them, 
and  1  go,  at  his  request,  to  pack  them  up  and  send  them  to 
Madison,  whence  they  will  be  carried  by  wagon.  So  no 
more  at  present. 

Yours,  affectionately.  LINTON  STKIMIKXS. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  5  f 

P.  S. — Your  account  of  Cobb's  trick  upon  the  hackman, 
I  read  in  Vickcrs'  piax/a,  to  the  threat  amusement  of  the 
crowd. 

The  allusion  to  Mr.  Webster  as  "The  Prodigal"  was 
perhaps  generated  of  the  fact  that  he  remained  in  Mr. 
Tyler's  Cabinet  after  his  defection  from  the  part}7  that 
elected  him  to  the  Vice-Presidency ;  the  great  body  of  the 
Whigs  condemned  Mr.  Webster's  conduct  at  the  time ; 
now  there  is  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  and  pa- 
triotism of  his  course. 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  14,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  wrote  you  a  letter  yesterday  and  dated 
it  the  fourteenth,  as  I  did  all  my  other  letters  of  the  same 
day,  which  I  suppose  only  shows  that  I  am  beginning  to  live 
too  fast  in  this  city  of  "Treaties."  Yours  of  the  eleventh 
instant  has  just  come  to  hand,  and  I  now  send  you  a  few 
lines  by  way  of  acknowledgment  for  it,  if  the  mail  will 
ever  be  so  kind  or  safe  as  to  carry  it — or  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  it  is  that  you  hear  so  seldom  from  me.  1  write 
sometimes  everyday,  and  at  no  time  omit  to  write  more 
than  three  or  four  days  at  a  spell.  There  must  be  sonic- 
thing  wrong  somewhere.  I  wrote  you  yesterday  that  Van 
Buren  stock  was  a  little  on  the  rise,  and  I  think  the  tendency 
this  morning  is  still  upwards.  Cass'  letter  has  been  re 
ceived,  and  it  is  not  satisfactory;  but  this,  I  believe,  1  men- 
tioned yesterday.  His  revised  opinion  has  not  yet  come  to 
hand — so  says  private  minor.  And  1  "guess"  it  is  true. 
There  is  now  some  disposition  amongst  the  Southern  Demo- 
crats to  take  up  Tyler.  But  he  cannot  get  the  nomination  of 
the  convention.  I  have  not  heard  from  Toombs  lately.  I 
expect  him  back  here  in  a  day  or  two.  The  last  I  heard 
of  him,  he  was  speaking  at  Newark,  where  he  gained 
many  laurels  for  himself,  and  much  distinction  for  his  State. 
Lumpkin  and  Dawson  were  also  with  him,  but  he  seemed 
to  outshine  the  whole  grand  constellation  in  that  exhibition. 
My  health  is  as  good  as  usual.  The  House  has  been  en- 
gaged all  this  week  in  the  business  relating  to  this  District, 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

But  nothing  has  yet  been  done  of  any  importance — not  even 
the  passage  of  the  bill  to  pave  the  avenue  to  prevent  the 
accumulation  of  dust,  etc.  The  Senate  sometime  ago 
passed  a  resolution  to  adjourn  on  the  twenty-seventh  in- 
stant. Yesterday,  we  amended  that  resolution  by  fixing  it 
on  the  seventeenth  proximo.  To-day,  that  body  laid  the 
whole  matter  on  the  table.  It  is  now  thought  that  we  will 
not  get  away  before  July.  But  I  expect  the  Baltimore  do- 
ings, to  come  off  Monday  week,  will  render  the  time  of  the 
adjournment  less  doubtful  than  it  now  is.  The  Democrats 
do  not  intend  to  quit  here  until  they  see  some  prospect  of 
land  ahead,  even  though  it  should  be  some  of  the  points  of 
Texas 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  GA.,  June  i,  1844. 

UKAR  BROTHER — Yesterday  morning,  1  received  your  let- 
ter of  the  twenty-sixth  ultimo,  together  with  the  scraps  of 
poetry,  and  the  sketches  of  Adams  and  Choate  from  the 
ladies'  gallery.  As  you  said  nothing  further  of  your  health, 
I  inferred  you  were  in  a  measure  restored.  The  poetry  was 
very  good.  The  photographic  sketches  were,  I  suppose, 
the  work  of  your  friend  Edwards — at  least,  they  are  just 
such  as  I  would  expect  him  to  perpetrate.  The  account  of 
your  speech  on  the  back  of  the  sketches,  I  had  seen  be- 
fore in  the  papers,  and  1  am  now  getting  very  anxious  to 
see  the  speech  itself.  There  is  nothing  new  here,  except 
the  prospect  of  fair  weather — or  I  might  almost  say  fair 
itself — and  also  that  Yickers,  the  hotel-keeper  at  Wash- 
ington, in  favor  of  somebody,  or  some  event  or  other, 
has  made  a  deviation  from  his  custom  and  killed  a  pig 
on  Tuesday  instead  of  Saturday.  Whether  the  prema- 
ture fall  of  that  one,  however,  shall  inure  to  the  benefit 
of  his  brethren,  and  save  the  accustomed  victim  this 
evening,  remains  yet  to  be  seen.  The  best,  however,  is  to 
be  hoped  for.  We  have  got  no  news  here  yet  from  the 
Baltimore  Convention.  Democratic  news  don't  move  like 
that  of  the  Whigs.  The  zeal  is  wanting  to  disseminate  it. 
Judge  Andrews,  his  brother,  the  doctor,  and  Captain  Brown 
are  Texas  men.  They,  however,  with  a  few  Democrats, 
whom  probably  you  do  not  know,  (the  Moons  for  instance,] 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  53 

form  the  only  exceptions  to  a  determined  opposition  to 
Texas  in  this  place.  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  Tom  Sim- 
mons is  a  Tyler-Texas  man,  and  that  Bob  Burch  is  for  im- 
mediate annexation,  "in  spite  of  h — 1."  His  zeal  for  Clay, 
however,  is  unabated.  Dr.  Alfriend,  too,  was  flying  away 
on  Texas,  but  Clay's  letter  clipped  his  wings,  and  has  re- 
stored him  to  the  earth  and  to  his  senses  again.  His  diffi- 
culty arose  from  the  necessity  of  giving  an  opinion  before  he 
knew  the  position  of  his  party.  Many,  no  doubt,  would 
have  obtained  a  similar  relief — or  rather  have  avoided  the 
difficulty  already,  from  an  earlier  publication  of  their 
leader's  sentiments.  The  Whigs  about  Crawfordville  were 
not  really  disposed  to  attach  any  importance  to  the  Texas 
question,  and  were  inclined  to  regard  it  as  a  humbug;  but 
some  of  them,  through  fear  of  seeming  to  ivait  for  an  opin- 
ion, prematurely  betrayed  themselves  into  a  false  position. 
Old  Parson  Wilson  is  a  most  determined  opponent  of  the 
Texas  clique,  and  is  actually  on  the  point  of  falling  out 
with  Mr.  Calhoun 

The  following  letter,  describing  a  diplomatic  dinner  at 
Washington  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  derives  additional 
interest  from  the  distinguished  characters  of  the  persons 
present,  as  well  as  the  well-known  tastes  of  the  writer: 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  June  u,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — It  is  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  I  have 
just  got  home  from  the  first  "diplomatic  dinner"  1  have 
attended  during  the  session — or  I  may  say,  I  ever  attended  ; 
and  as  I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  sleep,  I  have  thought  I 
would  give  you  hastily  a  "sketch  of  the  scene,"  as  1  know 
I  shall  not  have  the  time  to-morrow.  The  dinner  was  given 
by  Messrs.  Archer  and  Berrien,  who  have  moved  to  the  hill, 
and  have  quarters  just  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  public 
grounds  from  where  I  am  situated.  A.  and  B.,  you  know, 
are  "sort  of  chums"  and  live  together.  Mrs.  B.  has  been 
here  since  April.  That  you  may  know  the  particulars  in  full, 
I  enclose  my  invitation  card,  that  you  may  "begin  at  the 
beginning,"  as  Benton  said  in  his  speech  upon  Texas.  The 


54  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

hour,  you  perceive,  was  half-past  six  o'clock.  I  was  there 
to  the  minute — not  one  minute  too  soon  or  too  late.  I 
found  Air.  Barrow,  Senator  from  Louisiana,  and  the  Bel- 
gian Charge,  the  only  company  assembled.  But  in  a  few 
minutes,  all  the  guests  were  present,  to  wit :  The  Brit- 
ish Minister,  the  French  Minister,  the  Belgian  Charge,  and 
Mr.  Thompson,  our  late  Minister  to  Mexico,  Mr.  Barrow 
of  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  J.  R.  Ingersoll,  Daniel  D.  Barnard, 
R.  C.  Winthrop,  Hamilton  Fish,  Gales,  and  Seaton,  Evans 
of  Maine,  Mangum  of  North  Carolina,  the  Brazilian  Charge 
and  myself.  Mr.  A.  sat  at  one  end  of  the  table  and 
Mr.  B.  at  the  other.  Mrs.  B.  (the  only  lady  present) 
sat  in  the  middle  of  the  table  with  the  French  Minister 
on  her  right,  and  the  British  Minister  on  her  left,  and 

M directly    opposite,    between    the    Cliargcs    from 

Brazil  and  Belgium.      I  sat  on  M—    's  right,  and  Fvans 

to  me  on  the  right,  and  Ingersoll  fronting  me,  with  Bar- 
nard on  his  left,  while  Thompson  and  Gales  filled  up 
the  line  on  towards  Barrow's  right,  and  Winthrop,  Sea- 
ton  and  Fish  on  the  other  side,  on  the  left.  We  were 
seated  at  the  table  in  about  fifteen  minutes  of  the  ap- 
pointed time  for  dinner;  that  is  quarter  to  seven.  The 
table  was  decorated  with  flowers,  etc.,  and  filled  with  glass, 
but  nothing  eatable  was  to  be  seen,  except  some  jellies  and 
strawberries.  Everything  was  handed  round  by  servants. 
First  soup — then  fish,  then  beef,  then  something  else,  I 
know  not  what ;  then  sweet-breads,  then  chicken,  then  birds, 
then  beans  and  asparagus,  then*  strawberries,  then  CJuirlottc 
dc  Russc,  with  jellies,  then  ice  cream,  then  cherries  and 
apples.  A  change  of  plates  took  place  at  each  of  these 
courses — six  wine-glasses  were  placed  near  each  plate,  and 
in  them  we  first  had  Sherry,  immediately  after  soup,  then 
Madeira,  Claret,  Champagne,  Brandy,  etc.,  with  Hock,  and 
just  what  each  wanted  at  all  times.  I  forgot  to  mention 
Henderson,  the  late  Texas  Plenipotentiary,  as  one  of  the 
company;  and  I  forgot  to  say  also  that  the  last  course  was 
a  snuff-box  handed  all  around.  The  candles  were  lighted  as 
dark  came  on,  and  we  left  the  table  at  half-past  ten,  and 
repaired  to  the  drawing-room,  where  coffee  was  served  in 
the  handing  order.  The  whole  passed  off  very  well,  and 
nobody  got  dnink.  The  whole  company  was  jovial  and  the 
conversation  spirited.  All  sorts  of  subjects  were  talked 


JUDGE    I.1NTON    STEPHENS.  55 

about,  and  I  was  much  pleased  with  Mangum.  The  servants 
who  handed  meats,  etc.,  were  called  waiters;  those  who 
served  wine  were  called  bntlers.  They  were  all  colored  but 
one,  who  was  a  French  cook,  who  figured  largely,  and  all 
wore  silk  gloves  and  had  on  aprons.  Packenham  was  de- 
cidedly the  best-looking  man  in  the  crowd.  He  is  a  man  01 
fine  countenance  and  manly  form — does  not  look  to  be  over 
thirty-five  or  forty — wore  a  white  vest  with  upright  collar, 
dark  coat  with  shining  metal  buttons.  The  French  Min- 
ister, whose  name  I  do  not  know  how  to  spell,  is  a  pleasant 
fellow.  The  Brazilian  Charge  is  small,  dark  and  sprightly — 
tries  to  show  off  like  a  ficc  in  company.  The  Belgian 
Charge  is  an  angular-looking,  sober-minded  man  of  reflec- 
tion and  practical  life;  he  is,  I  should  think,  fifty.  As  for 

H ,  he  went  from  North  Carolina,  and  is  about  like  five 

hundred  other  men  you  might  see  on  Tar  River  anywhere. 
Mrs.  B.  is  a  good-looking  woman,  affects  nothing  extra  ; 
she  seemed  to  entertain  the  two  ministers  about  her  very 
well.  But  I  can  say  no  more  ;  and  this  I  have  said  to  you, 
only  to  write  for  a  few  moments  before  going  to  bed.  I 
will  state  this,  however,  which  surprised  me:  When  I  was 
here  in  1838,  General  Thompson  was  then  a  member  of 
Congress  from  South  Carolina,  and  I  was  introduced  to  him, 
etc.,  and  immediately  on  coming  in  the  room,  he  came  up 
and  recognized  me.  I  had  not  seen  him  since  1838.  He 
is  a  thorough  anti-annexation  man,  and  has  promised  me  to 
beat  the  mass-meeting  in  Madison  on  the  3istof  July. 
Tell  Getting  of  this;  I  mean  tell  him  that  Thompson,  late 

Minister  to  Mexico,  will  be  there I 

don't  write  such  stuff  as  this  for  anybody  but  yourself. 


From  Charlottesville,  Virginia,  Linton  \yrites  to  his  bro- 
ther, in  December,  1844: 

[From  I,.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

DEAR  BROTHER — After  we  parted,  the  Charlottesville 
train  waited  at  the  "Junction"  until  the  arrival  of  the 
Southern  train,  and  then  went  on  without  accident  to  Gor- 
donsville.  We  arrived  there  about  two  o'clock,  and  got  a 
dinner  which  fully  realized  my  ideal  of  Virginian  cooking. 


56  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

When  I  left  the  dinner-house,  I  felt  a  good  deal  like  I  was 
leaving  home — the  house  was  so  warm  and  cheerful,  the 
landlady  so  neat  and  accommodating;  but,  above  all,  they 
fed  me  so  well  that  I  felt  a  very  lively  regret  at  leaving; 
(a  dog  will  take  up  where  he  is  well  fed.)  From  Gordons- 
ville,  the  conveyance  was  by  stage,  over  a  road  which,'  for 
the  difficulty  of  traveling  it,  can't  be  equaled  by  any  I  have 
ever  seen.  It  was  bad — not  from  want  of  attention,  but 
from  the  face  of  the  country  and  the  character  of  the  soil, 
which  in  wet  weather  becomes  muddy  and  lets  a  wheel  sink 
very  deep.  Upon  getting  into  the  stage,  the  first  question 
of  a  passenger,  who  afterwards  proved  to .  be  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  country,  was,  if  the  road  was  deep — and 
deep  it  proved  to  be.  The  stage  arrived  here  about  eight 
o'clock.  The  Montreal  man — who,  you  may  remember, 
stood  outside  of  the  car,  and  said  he  was  going  to  Char- 
lottcsville — proved  to  be  quite  a  genius  in  his  way.  He  had 
no  humor,  and,  I  think,  not  the  slightest  ambition  to  raise 
a  laugh  ;  and  yet,  to  laugh  was  almost  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  his  opening  his  lips.  There  was  an  indescrib- 
able oddity  about  him  that  made  you  laugh  without  being 
able  to  tell  why.  Montreal  is  his  home  now;  but  he  went 
from  this  State  thither,  and  when  he  got  to  this  place,  and 
stood  about  the  bar  sometime,  one  of  the  waiters  recog- 
nized him,  and  went  up  to  him  and  called  him  Mars,  (some- 
thing that  I  did  not  understand.)  He  shook  the  negro  by 
the  hand  and  said,  "  Why,  how  do  you  do,  Jim?  D — n 
it!  I'm  glad  to  see  you  !  "  He  then  went  on  talking  to  Jim 
with  as  much  zest  as  you  would  if  you  were  to  meet  Ben 
or  Bob  in  Egypt,  or  as  I  would  if  I  were  to  see  one  of  them 
lie  re  noii'.  The  last  of  the  conversation  I  heard  was  an  in- 
quiry from  Jim  about  "  Mars  John,  away  yonder!  " 

The  first  thing  I  did  this  morning,  after  breakfast,  was  to 
walk  out  about  a  mile  to  the  university,  and  present  myself 
to  Judge  Tucker.  About  his  third  remark  t<>  me  \\as 
the  question,  "Have  you  ever  seen  my  Commentaries?" 
I  learned  from  him  that  he  had  two  classes  of  law- 
students,  Juniors  and  Seniors.  The  Juniors  are  now  on  the 
subject  of  "Things  Real,"  in  Blackstone,  and  the  Seniors 
on  the  subject  of  "Personalty,"  in  the  same  book.  The 
Juniors,  he  says,  will  graduate  in  two  years,  and  the  Sen- 
iors in  one.  He  says  if  I  will  join  the  Seniors,  and  will  be 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  57 

diligent,  and  should  prove  intelligent,  I  can  graduate  at  the 
same  time — that  is,  the  fourth  of  July  next.  Then,  after 
making  a  few  remarks  about  the  advantages  which  he 
"could  but  flatter  himself"  (was  the  expression)  "were  to 
be  derived  from  Iris  Commentaries"  he  told  me  the  proctor 
would  give  me  all  necessary  information.  I  thereupon  quit 
him  and  went  to  see  the  proctor.  I  learned  from  him  that 
1  would  have  to  pay  $70.00  professor's  fee,  $15.00  for  the 
use  of  public  rooms,  deposit  $IO,OO  as  a  contingent  fund 
to  meet  my  share  of  damages,  etc.,  (the  surplus,  if  any,  to 
be  returned  at  the  end  of  session,)  and  if  I  was  twenty-one 
years  old,  1  could  have  my  choice  of  boarding  in  or  out  of 
the  college.  The  price  of  board  in  the  college  hotels  (of 
which  there  are  two  or  three  in  the  campus)  is  $110.00  for 
the  session,  and  you  will  have  to  pay  Si6.OO  rent  for  dormi- 
tory. I  am  told  by  Hunt,  of  Wilkes  county,  whom  I  found 
here,  and  is  an  old  acquaintance,  that  board  in  town  can  be 
had  for  about  the  same  cost.  Board,  in  and  out  of  college, 
must  be  paid  quarterly,  in  advance.  All  these  sums  have 
to  be  paid  before  I  can  enter ;  so  if  (I  tell  you  1  don't  like 
the  appcaranccs}'y<j\\  want  me  to  enter,  you  can  tell  how 
much  money  1  will  need.  I  now  have  §78.93.  No  more 
room  and  dark.  Yours,  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[i-'rom  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

I  Ni\F.ksiTv  OF  VIRGINIA,  December,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  letter  enclosing  the  half-bills,  i 
received  this  morning,  and  the  money  came  all  safely,  but 
was  delayed  one  mail  from  some  cause  or  other.  I  believe 
1  shall,  to-morrow,  offer  the  proctor  one  of  my  half-bills  as 
a  pledge  for  the  payment  of  my  tuition-money,  etc.  If  1 
wait  for  the  counterparts  before  I  begin  to  attend  lectures, 
it  will  probably  be  Friday  before  I  can  commence.  To  de- 
posit the  half-bill  would  be  evidence  of  my  honest  intention 
to  pay,  and  make  it  my  interest  to  pay  what  might  be  due, 
for,  of  course,  the  remaining  half,  without  the  one  depos- 
ited, could  have  no  value.  My  only  objection  to  doing  so 
is,  not  the  fear  of  refusal,  but  the  appearance  it  would  carry 
of  doubting  any  man's  confidence  in  my  honor.  That  men 
will  distrust  a  stranger's  honor  is  inevitable,  but  to  confess 
6* 


38  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

his  consciousness  of  their  distrust  is  rather  unpleasant.  I 
believe,  on  the  whole,  this  consideration  will  deter  me  from 
the  step  and  make  me  content  to  sit  in  my  room  and  read 
one  week  longer.  1  should  not  have  said  longer,  for  what 
1  have  already  read  scarcely  deserves  the  name  of  a  com- 
mencement. The  reason  I  have  not  read  has  been  the 
want  of  books,  and  the  reason  I  didn't  buy  books  sooner 
was,  my  expectation  that  the  course  of  study  would  be  con- 
trolled by  the  lectures  of  the  professor.  I  understand  now, 
though,  that  his  lectures  are  very  scanty,  and  that  the  chief 
part  ol  the  course  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Commentaries." 
1  don't  know  what  change  the  old  fellow  may  work  in  my 
opinions,  but,  with  my  present  knowledge  of  him,  and  his 
system  of  teaching,  I  never  should  have  come  here.  The 
students  here,  too,  generally,  are  mean — right  down  mean — 
they  look  like  it ;  they  are  generally  a  set  of  striplings — very 
fe\v  men  amongst  them — and  they  have  a  foolish  way  of 
passing  a  man — always  without  the  least  notice  of  him, 
unless  they  have  gone  through  the  formality  of  an  intro- 
duction. The  assumption  of  such  airs  has  just  disgusted 
me  with  the  whole  concern,  and  I  have  resolved  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  Reese  is  wrong  in  a  great  many 
of  liis  prejudices,  but  he  is  perfectly  right  in  his  contempt 
for  a  college-student.  The  Athens  students  had  traits  per- 
vading the  whole  that  seemed  to  be  derived  from  the  very 
air  they  breathed,  and  to  infect  everything  within  the  col- 
lege walls;  but  here  those  same  traits  are  immensely  mag- 
nified; and  the  most  prominent  of  them  is  self-conceit.  .  . 
\  have  a  constant  inclination  to  the  past.  I  take  a  gloomy 
pleasure  in  viewing  it.  1  can't  look  to  the  future  with  any 
hope,  and  1  often  wonder  how  anybody  else  can.  Death 
and  decay  are  impressed  upon  everything.  What  motive 
is  there  to  do  anything  in  this  life?  Work  to  acquire  honor 
and  avoid  disgrace  ?  Sixty  years  will  cover  both.  Work 
to  do  good  to  mankind?  If  you  could  shower  down  bless- 
ings upon  the  whole  generation  that  now  covers  the  earth, 
ho\v  long  could  the}'  last?  The}'  must  perish  with  the  sub- 
jects that  receive  them.  And  how  short  is  life?  Sixty 
years  will  bur}'  all  the  good  you  can  do,  too,  and  when  the 
sixty  years  have  expired,  what  will  it  matter  whether  you 
have  done  good  or  evil  ?  Some  men  have  left  discoveries, 
and  inventions,  and  thoughts,  behind  them  which  may  long 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  59 

survive,  and  continue  to  others  the  benefits  we  now  derive 
from  them ;  but  who  can  hope  to  be  of  that  fortunate  num- 
ber? And  how  many  centuries  will  be  required  to  entomb 
both  great  and  small  alike  in  one  common  oblivion?  And 
when  those  centuries  shall  have  been  numbered,  what  will 
distinguish  a  Newton  from  the  thousand  worms  or  ants  that 

he  daily  crushed  in  his  path? 

Yours,  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 


The  compliment  paid  to  Dr.  Olin  in  the  following  letter 
will  not  be  deemed  extravagant  by  those  who  had  the  good 
fortune  to  hear  that  superlative  pulpit  orator.  It  is  "  Lau- 
dari  a  I'iro  laudato  :  " 


[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  1).  C.,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I   attended  church  at 

the  Chapel,  and  heard  Dr.  Olin,  of  whom  you  have  often 
heard  me  speak.  He  looks  much  broken  since  I  saw  him 
last,  twelve  years  ago,  and  also  appeared  in  very  bad  health  ; 
but  he  preached  a  very  good  sermon — an  eloquent  one — the 
best  one  I  have  heard  in  a  long  time;  and  perhaps  I  should 
except  this  particular  from  the  dull  routine  of  the  day's  in- 
cidents; for  it  rarely  occurs  that  I  am  so  well  pleased  at 
church  as  I  was  to-day;  and  it  rarely  occurs  to  any  man  to 
hear  a  better  sermon  at  any  time.  He  had  a  large  audi- 
ence, and  gave  great  satisfaction.  Of  course,  I  bragged  on 
him  as  being  a  Georgian,  my  instructor,  etc.  Judges  Mc- 
Lean and  McKinley  were  out  to  hear  him.  The  Chief  Just- 
ice and  Judge  Story  missed  the  treat.  Toombs  and  Cran- 
ston were  at  the  capitol. 

Some  of  the  letters  which  follow  will  show  that  devotion 
to  Themis  did  not  occupy  all  Linton's  time  and  engross 
all  his  attention  while  at  Charlottesville.  He  offered  sac- 
rifice upon  the  altars  of  some  other  divinities  as  well: 


6O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OK 

|  Ki-om  I,.  S.  to  A.  U.S.] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  December,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  morning,  I  received  from  you  five 
papers — one  of  which,  the  Miscellany,  ought  to  have  come 
yesterday;  but,  what  I  should  have  valued  more  than  all 
the  rest,  no  letter.  Yesterday,  besides  the  letter  I  then 
answered,  I  got  a  copy  of  the  Huntress.  I  read  everything 
in  it,  from  Henry  Clay  down  to  the  advertisements,  and 
among  them  I  saw  man)"  names  which  I  remembered:  one 
was  Winters,  the  man  who  sold  you  cigars  last  session.  ! 
wish  you  would  send  me  the  next  Huntress  also ;  for  in  that. 
the  old  lady  promises  to  conclude  a  tale  which  lias  interested 
me  enough  to  make  me  wish  to  know  how  it  ends.  By 
the-way,  did  you  notice  this  sentence  in  the  copy  you  sent 
me:  "  Little  Georgian,  (in  capitals)  don't  give  up  the  paper." 
H  is  a  solitary,  disconnected  piece,  and  I  cannot  imagine  any 
meaning  for  it,  unless  you  have  been  threatening  to  stop 
the  old  lady's  paper,  (because  she  won't  describe  you,)  and 
she  intends  tliat  sentence  as  an  exhortation  to  you  "  to 
hold  on  and  you'll  get  the  blessing  in  due  season."  That 
you  may  be  better  able  to  interpret  it,  I  cut  it  out. 
together  with  the  piece  immediately  preceding  it,  and  en- 
close it  to  you;  the  preceding  piece  is  to  show  its  want  of 
connection  with  anything  else.  The  Miscellany  T  devoured 
even  with  more  avidity  than  the  Huntress.  One  piece  in 
it — "The  Departed  One" — is  very  humorous,  and  for  its 
strain  of  consolation  is  elegantly  suited  to  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  poor  Whigs.  It  was  very  generous,  too,  of  a 
Loco  (Xeal,  the  author  of  "Charcoal  Sketches,")  to  be  so 
considerate  of  his  opponents  in  the  hour  of  their  affliction. 
If  Clay  could  just  see  it,  he  would  almost  congratulate 
himself  upon  his  defeat — the  leisure  of  a  beaten  candidate 
is  painted  in  such  charming  colors.  And  then,  too,  Mr. 
Clay  has  what  that  piece  considers  an  indispensable  for 
turning  a  beating  into  a  pleasant  thing — "lie's  used  to  it!" 

DECEMBER  n. — This  much  I  wrote  yesterday,  but  (it 
being  late  in  the  evening  when  I  \ras  writing)  was  pre- 
vented from  finishing  my  letter  by  the  entrance  of  the  man 
who  came  to  set  up  my  clock.  He  detained  me  some  half- 
hour,  and  didn't  leave  me  time  to  finish  my  letter  and  mail 
it  bv  dark  ;  so  having  nothing  to  write  of  interest  anv  wav, 


JUDGE  LIXTOX  STEPHENS.  61 

I  deferred  it  until  to-day.  It  is  no\v  nearly  eleven  o'clock, 
and  my  clock  hasn't  made  a  blunder.  I  think  it  is  quite  a 
sure-footed  animal,  and  will,  in  all  probability,  /told  up  to 
the  end  of  the  track — that  is,  to  the  end  of  the  present  ses- 
sion here.  But  whether  it  does  or  not,  I  have  got  it  war- 
ranted anyhow.  Am  I  not  a  perfect  Moses  Primrose  /  I 
believe  he  had  his  gross  (a  whole  gross)  of  spectacles  war- 
ranted, too — didn't  he?  1  shall  make  my  fortune  at  trade 
if  I  stay  here  long.  A  clock  for  *2/,  and  a  clock  out  of 
pure  economy!  Campbell,  the  blind  phrenologist,  told  me 
some  years  ago  that  my  licad  indicated  mercantile  talent,  and 
notwithstanding  the  limited  field  which  my  genius  has  had 
for  display  in  that  line,  I  am  likely  to  establish  both  the 
truth  of  the  science  and  his  claims  to  an  understanding  of 
it.  The  Message  which  you  started  for  me  has  not  arrived 
yet :  suppose  you  send  me  another,  if  you  have  a  copy  by 
you,  as  I  should  take  some  pleasue  in  reading  even  the  lu- 
cubrations of  "The  Captain,"*  when  they  derive  some  im- 
portance from  the  position  he  occupies.  I  have  already, 
though,  some  hints  of  its  contents,  both  from  your  own 
account  and  the  papers  you  have  sent  me.  In  the  Globe 
you  sent  me,  I  sat  and  read  the  correspondence  upon  the 
subject  of  annexation.  Mexico  is  certainly  pretty  belliger- 
ent, at  least,  in  language,  and  I  presume  it  was  that  feature 
in  the  correspondence  which  (as  you  say  in  a  letter  of 
Sunday's  date,  and  which  I  received  this  morning)  has 
somewhat  abated  the  hopes  of  annexationists.  Rut  as  T 
am  no  political!,  and  you  recommend  me  to  continue  so,  I 
will  say  nn  more  upon  annexation.  I  will  mention,  ho\\- 
evcr,  that  Calhoun  advanced  a  new  idea  (to  me)  to  prove 
the  independence  of  Texas — that  feature  of  the  Mexican 
Constitution  authorizing  Texas,  or  any  other  of  the  Con- 
federated States,  to  erect  an  independent  government  after 
attaining  to  a  certain  degree  of  population.  The  idea  is 
not  conclusive,  but  certainly  has  more  plausibility  than 
some  I  heard  from  the  stump  in  Georgia  upon  the  same 
point.  And  speaking  of  Georgia:  the  piece  you  sent  me 
this  morning,  upon  "Abolition  in  Georgia,"  is,  as  Groelcy 

calls  it,   "truly  a  gem." 

The  commencement  of  the  rain  at  Crawfordville  corre- 
sponds to  the  time  of  its  commencement  when  I  was  on  the 
road,  and  though  we  had  no  pour,  yet  for  the  next  two  days 

*"  President  Tyler  was  called  "The  Captain.''' 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

the  rain  was  nearly  continuous.  My  zeal  "to  make  a  pil- 
grimage to  Monticello"  will  never  make  me  encounter  such 
weather  as  they  have  in  winter:  so  I  believe  I  shall  defer 
it  until  Spring.  I  wonder  Cobb  didn't  come  over  to  pay 
his  adorations,  in  his  holidays,  particularly,  as  he  started  in 
this  direction.  If  it  just  was  "Old  Hickory's"  place  of  re- 
pose, wouldn't  he  bow  to  it?  His  devotions  would  do 
honor  to  a  Catholic 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  I,.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER— We  had  an  inter- 
esting time  in  the  House  to-day,  in  some  skirmishing  be- 
tween Dromgoole,  Rhett,  et  al.  But  principally  between 
those  two.  For  myself,  I  think  it  was  the  most  interesting 
debate  I  have  witnessed  upon  the  floor  of  the  House  since 
I  have  been  a  member.  There  was  no  noise — no  confusion. 
The  House  was  attentive  and  the  speaking  was  good. 
Rhett  made  decidedly  the  best  speech  I  ever  heard  made 
in  the  House.  It  was  short,  as  well  as  all  the  rest  of  them, 
(and  such  are  generally  the  most  interesting — set-speeches 
I  detest,)  and  the  latter  part  highly  impassioned.  I  do  not 
know  how  it  will  appear  in  the  report,  or  even  how  it  will  read, 
if  written  just  as  it  was  delivered,  but  it  was  first  rate  to 
hear;  and  I  have  long  since  been  of  the  opinion  that  elo- 
quence depends  mainly  upon  action  and  manner.  I  will 
send  you  the  papers  of  to-morrow,  that  you  may  see  the 
proceedings.  They  were,  upon  the  whole,  the  most  inter- 
esting we  have  had.  The  subject  was  Dr.  Duncan's  bill 
relating  to  the  election  of  President 

[  From  A.  II.  S.  to  I,.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  have  put  up  for  you 

the  (ilobc  of  last  night,  which  contains  the  report  of  the 
debate  yesterday  in  the  House,  which  I  mentioned  in  my 
last  night's  letter;  but,  just  as  I  expected,  it  seems  like  a 
poor  affair  in  the  report,  and  the  meanest  speeches — such  a> 
were  not  listened  to  at  all,  for  instance,  quite  as  good  as 
those  which  produced  such  sensation  in  the  House.  I  be- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  63 

lieve  I  mentioned  that  Judge  Story  always  has  his  bottle 
of  brandy  at  dinner;  he  is  one  of  the  most  incessant  talkers 
you  ever  heard,  and,  moreover,  always  talks  good  sense. 
I  am  much  pleased  with  him.  He  just  seems  and  talks  to 
the  company  as  if  he  had  always  been  acquainted  with  each 
one.  He  came  into  my  room  yesterday  to  borrow  the 
New  York  Tribune.  He  says  we  ought  not  "to  work  too 
hard,"  or  try  to  do  too  much;  but  when  the  clay  is  spent, 
we  ought  to  go  home  and  sit  down,  and  look  in  the  far.  .  . 

It  is  said  that  the  best  spoken  speeches  rarely  read  well ; 
vice  versa.  One  of  Charles  James  Fox's  sayings  was :  ' '  Did 
the  speech  read  well  when  reported?  If  so,  it  was  a  bad 
one." 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  December,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  this  morning  received  from  you  a 
number  of  papers  (13) — so  many  that  I  presume  they  were 
not  all  started  at  once — and  had  letters,  one  enclosing  one 
from  John  Bird,  and  the  other  inquiring  certain  names. 
That  poor  postmaster  this  morning  certainly  had  his  tri- 
umph converted  into  chagrin  and  dismay  ;  his  patriotism 
by  now  must  have  reached  the  fusing  point ;  its  high  tem- 
perature may  melt  your  sealing-wax.  In  the  letter  enclos- 
ing John's,  and  bearing  date  of  the  1 2th  instant,  you  said 
you  had  already  written  to  me  that  evening;  that  letter  has 
not  reached  me  yet,  but  I  shall  expect  it  to-morrow  morn- 
ing— that  is,  if,  after  inquiring,  I  find  the  office  will  be  open 
on  Sunday;  very  probably  it  will  not,  and  if  so,  I  shall  go 
up  to-night  when  the  mail  comes.  But,  no  doubt,  you  are 
getting  uneasy  at  my  silence  about  old  Mr.  Barlow.  The 
old  fellow's  name,  as  it  appears  on  his  sign,  is  "  R.  Bar- 
low." I  remember,  as  you  and  I  were  driving  on  after 
him  down  to  his  house,  just  before  we  got  to  him,  you  said 
his  name  was  "Billy  Barlow;"  that  fact  made  me  examine 
the  sign  to  see  how  it  appeared  there,  and  I  remember  very 
distinctly  that  it  was  R.  Barlow,  which  I  mentioned  to  you, 
and  you  interpreted  it  to  stand  for  ' '  Bobuel. "  The  name  of 
"the  boy  at  the  grocery,"  as  you  uncourteously  style  him, 


64  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OK 

is  Lcroy ;  but  as  you  will  have  to  content  yourself  with  the 
"old  man's  initials,"  it  would  be  good  policy  to  curtail 
"the  boy  at  the  grocery's"  name  to  the  same  dimensions, 
in  order  to  give  the  appearance  of  not  taking  the  old 
fellow's  name  from  the  sign,  but  by  knowing"  it  from  repu- 
tation. Let  your  address,  then,  be  "  R.  &  L.  Barlow."  1 
am  sorry  that  1  have  forgotten  the  man  who  wanted  you  to 
send  him  a  document  to  Wrightsboro  or  Raytown  ;  it  seems 
to  me  it  is  something  like  Briscom,  or  Perry,  and  1  am  not 
altogether  certain  that  I  ever  knew  it;  he  put  me  in  mind 
of  Thrcewitt,  of  Warrenton,  but  upon  what  principle  of  as- 
sociation, I  have  also  forgotten — perhaps  from  the  simi- 
larity of  names — but  1  believe  it  was  from  some  business 
allusion  he  made  to  Threewitt.  Now,  again,  his  name 
seems  to  be  Bryant,  and  still  again  he  somehow  or  other 
reminds  me  of  Hugn  Ward,  and  he  contrived  to  revive  in 
my  mind  the  memory  of  Daniel  \Yatkins,  of  Kl'oert.  If  all 
these  materials  can  be  of  service  to  your  correspondence,  you 
are  welcome  to  them,  and  I  hope  they  ma}7  prove  more 
profitable  in  your  hands  than  they  have  thus  far  proved  in 
mine. 

1  attended  another  lecture  to-day,  (the  Seniors  attend 
Juniors'  lectures,)  and  have  yet  found  little  cause  to  change 
my  opinion  of  Judge  Fucker.  He  is  a  very  clever  old 
fellow,  and,  I  will  admit,  shows  more  sense  than  his  first 
appearance  promised.  Aylett — Alct,  as  they  pronounce 
it- — that  1  mentioned  yesterday  as  having  the  reputation 
of  standing  well,  is  of  the  Juniors,  and,  perhaps,  does 
answer  best  of  his  class;  but  Gregg,  of  the  Seniors,  is 
Jar  superior  to  him  in  an  understanding  of  the  author. 
Gregg  boards  at  my  house,  and,  1  think,  is  quite  a  smart 
fellow.  He  has  a  green  look,  but  also  seems  both  conscious 
and  careless  as  to  its  effect.  He  has  a  big  head,  long,  light 
hair,  and  usually  lias  a  half-reckless,  half  swaggering,  half- 
good-natured  (if  a  thing  can  have  three  haires]  smile  upon 
his  face.  There  is  in  my  class  one  man  from  Georgia — his 
name  is  -  — .  I  presume  he  is  a  relative  of  -  — .  1 
could  determine  a  man's  locality  by  "that  air"  as  readily 
as  you  could  his  origin  by  "taken" — the  Taliaferro  provin- 
cialism— for  I  have  never  vet  seen  it  in  a  \ortli  C  arltuy 
nigger. 

1   see  Jones*  has  changed  you   from  the  Committee  o! 

s  Speaker  of  the  House. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  65 

Claims  to  that  on  the  District.  How  do  you  like  the 
change?  Less  laborious,  no  doubt,  and  perhaps  less  hon- 
orable also. 

It  is  getting  late  in  the  evening,  and  as  I  want  a  walk,  I 
will  go  down  town  and  mail  this  letter,  which  I  must  now 
close  from  want  of  time,  room  and  matter. 

Yours,  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  I..  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December,  184.4. 

DEAR  BROTHER— 

I  intend  to  send  you  a  small  book  upon  "  Kti- 
quette,"  which  I  want  you  to  read  ;  the  style  is  pretty  good, 
and  it  is  quite  instructive.  I  commend  it  the  more  to  your 
attention,  inasmuch  as  General  Clinch,  the  other  day,  in 
his  inquiries  after  you,  said  that  you  had  "paid  more  atten- 
tion to  the  cultivation  of  your  mind  than  you  had  to  your 
manners,  and  that  you  ought  to  devote  more  attention  to 
the  latter  than  you  had  done."  I  only  give  you  the  sub- 
stance of  the  old  General's  remarks.  They  were  made  in 
"all  kindness,"  after  a  free  and  full  conversation  about 
young  men,  their  prospects,  etc.,  and  after  giving  instances 
by  way  of  illustration.  I  did  not  know  that  he  had  hardly 
noticed  you,  much  less  that  he  had  paid  any  attention  {.<> 
your  appearance.  He,  by-the-by,  has  a  high  opinion  of 
your  ability,  but  says  "a  man,  to  be  useful,  must,  in  the 
present  state  of  society,  pay  some  attention  to  the  graces." 
That  was  his  language 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  December  ]<>,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yesterday  I  delayed  writing  to  you 
until  nearly  dark,  through  negligence;  this  evening  I  have 
done  the  same  thing  through  the  necessity  of  entertaining 
a  consummate  bore.  And  if  a  short  letter  to  you  is  Ics.-  en- 
tertaining than  a  long  one,  why,  then,  the  consequence.7 
will  very  properly  fall  upon  the  shoulders  that  ought  tc  b til- 
th em  ;  for  you  are  the  cause  of  the  brevity  that  must  char- 
acterize this  epistle.  You  may  be  at  a  loss  to  knov."  hc-v. 


66  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

you,  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles, 
could  interfere  with  my  writing  here,  but  many  things  are 
true  that  can't  be  explained.  In  this  case,  however,  though 
you  may  not  imagine  the  explanation,  yet  I  have  the  key 
to  the  mystery;  and — to  turn  the  key  and  throw  back  the 
bolt  immediately,  without  any  ceremonies  at  the  door — T 
am  indebted  to  you  for  the  visit  of  the  gentleman  who  has 
just  left  me,  and  whom  I  have  used  the  freedom  to  denom- 
inate a  bore.  He  is  a  Mississippian,  and  has  not  lived  be- 
yond the  reach  of  your  notoriety,  (I  might  have  said  fame, 
mightn't  I?)  He  knows  you  as  a  politician,  and  takes  it 
for  granted  that  I  must  be  also  infected  with  a  love  of  pol- 
itics, (Hunt,  I  suppose,  having  told  him  I  was  your  brother. ) 
He  has  a  brother-in-law  who  is  a  big  politician,  and  he  him- 
self certainly  is  infected  with  a  love  of  politics — though  I  do 
not  come  to  my  conclusion  upon  his  system  of  reasoning; 
nor  do  I  undertake  to  say  that  the  infection  was  caught 
from  his  brother-in-law.  The  fact  of  its  existence,  however, 
is  certain;  nor  do  I  go  beyond  himself  for  the  evidence  of 
it.  Accordingly,  the  relish  for  politics  which  he  imparted 
to  me  has  acted  like  a  charm,  and  drawn  him  towards  me 
by  the  irresistible  laws  of  sympathy.  I  judge  of  the  motive 
of  his  visit  by  the  theme  of  his  conversation  ;  and  though  I 
may  have  misjudged  the  one,  I  certainly  shall  never  forget 
the  other,  for  misery  makes  a  deep  impression.  Hut  after 
I  have  told  you  that  your  name  received  its  share  of  his 
notice,  I  am  afraid  I  might  exhaust  all  my  evidence  and  all 
my  spleen  without  converting  you  to  my  opinion  of  his 
agreeability.  I  shall,  therefore,  not  make  the  attempt,  but 
content  myself  with  giving  you  his  name  to  be  blended  with 
whatever  impression  you  have  already  taken  of  the  man, 
and  also  the  name  of  his  big  brother-in-law,  who  "  has  been 
called  the  Father  of  tJic  Wliigs  in  Mississippi."  The  name 
of  my  acquaintance  is  —  — ,  and  the  name  of  the  "  Father 
of  the  Whigs"  is  General  —  — ."  Do  you  know  him? 
I  have  seen  his  name  in  some  newspaper  sometime  during 
the  canvass  just  over 

So  free,  and  full,  and  frequent  was  the  correspondence 
between  the  brothers,  that  almost  every  incident  of  the  da}-, 
every  good  story,  every  new  anecdote,  etc.,  was  communi- 
cated. 


JUDGE    LINTON"  STEPHENS.  67 

The  life  of  a  Congressman  at  Washington,  thirty  years 
ago,  was  a  busier  one  than  now,  perhaps,  if  we  take  the 
following  description  of  one  as  ensample  of  all.  Surely  the 
office  should  be  a  sinecure  at  no  time : 

[  From  A.  11.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  T).  C,  December  20,  18.44. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  was  cut  rather  short  in  my  letter  last 
night  by  the  arrival  of  Henry  to  carry  my  mail  to  the  office 
sooner  than  I  expected.  Indeed,  I  had  not  been  conscious 
of  the  lapse  of  time,  or  how  long  I  had  been  engaged  in  my 
other  correspondence ;  for  you  must  know — or  if  you  do 
not,  I  will  tell  you — that  I  have  almost  as  man}-  letters  to 
write  this  winter  as  I  had  last,  of  all  kinds  and  characters,  ex- 
cept congratulatory  ones,  and  I  may  also  except  "  buckets," 
for  in  the  midst  of  general  depression,  I  have  been  spared 
that  mortification.  Most  letters  now  received  are  expostu- 
lations for  intercession  in  behalf  of  honest  postmasters,  who 
are  about  to  be  put  under  the  "  law  of  proscription. "  What 

will  our  country  come  to?     — ,  of  Athens,  poor  fellow, 

is  about  to  be  made  to  walk  the  plank — is  at  the  head  of  it. 
He  and  I,  however,  have  got  along  thus  far  remarkably 
well.  -  is  more  distant,  but  social  upon  passing. 

Cobb  and  Lumpkin  board  at  the  next  door,  you  know,  and 
we  see  each  other  much  more  frequently.  I  never  was  so 
destitute  of  leisure  hours  in  my  life.  I  am  now  living  com- 
pletely by  the  clock,  and  each  day  is  but  the  routine  of  the 
succeeding  one.  I  arise  exactly  at  half-past  eight,  and  get 
read}-  for  breakfast  in  just  twenty  minutes;  the  next  ten  I 
spend  in  sitting  by  the  fire  in  a  large  arm-chair — not  a 
rocker,  (though  1  have  one  on  the  other  side  of  my  table,) 
but  a  great  big  cushioned,  calico-covered  affair,  which 
almost  hides  me — looking  over  the  morning  papers  just  to 
see  if  there  is  anything  new  to  talk  about  at  breakfast, 
which  is  announced  at  nine  precisely.  After  breakfast,  I 
smoke  a  cigar — or  rather,  two  or  three — finish  the  papers, 
and  then  read  miscellaneous  matter  (I  am  now  upon  the  de- 
bates in  the  Virginia  Convention  that  adopted  the  Federal 
Constitution)  until  twelve.  I  then  go  to  the  House  and  re- 
main during  the  session,  which  generallv  continues  until 


68  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

about  three.  I  then  return  and  commence  writing  letters, 
and  keep  at  that  until  dinner,  at  four  o'clock,  which  lasts 
generally  about  an  hour.  I  then  resume  writing  until  tea 
at  six,  where  I  remain  about  five  minutes,  and  then  return 
to  close  my  correspondence  by  seven,  when  the  mail  closes. 
I  then  read  until  twelve  o'clock,  after  which  I  know  but 
little  until  half-past  eight  next  day:  and  these  arc  my  daily 
habits.  I  have  not  yet  been  to  one  of  the  departments — at- 
tending to  all  business  there  by  correspondence;  nor  have 
T  yet  attended  a  meeting  of  our  committee.  It  has  not  yet 
been  called  together.  Upon  the  whole,  T  am  quite  a^'irca- 

bly  situated 

We  had  an  interesting  debate  in  the  House  to-day  upon 
the  bill  to  renew  the  Sub-treasury,  which  Dromgoole 
brought  up.  The  speakers  were  Adams,  Dromgoole,  Smith 
of  Indiana,  (Caleb  B. ),  Kennedy  of  the  same  State,  and 
Schenck,  which  kept  the  House  in  session  until  past  four 
o'clock,  when  Yancey  got  the  floor,  and  there  was  an  ad- 
journment until  to-morrow,  when  the  same  subject,  I  pre- 
sume, will  be  taken  up.  I  expect  the  bill  will  be  passed 
to-morrow.  I  can  then  say,  "  I  told  you  so,"  to  my  worthy 
constituents.  Hereafter,  I  believe  I  shall  send  you  no 
paper  but  the  Globe,  and  Intelligencer,  and  the  Georgia 
papers,  for  I  suspect,  judging  from  myself,  that  it  is  too 
great  a  draft  upon  your  time  to  look  over  all  the  trash  that 
is  printed;  and,  in  speaking  of  your  time,  how  is  it  you  say 
nothing  of  moot-courts?  Do  you  have  none  in  the  univer- 
sity? I  should  also  like  to  know  how  you  answer  in  your 
class,  compared  with  others.  Have  you  taken  a  respecta- 
ble stand  or  not?  You  have  not  yet  told  me  whether  you 
joined  the  Senior  or  Junior  class.  The  letter  I  got  from 
you  last  night  mentioned  the  note  enclosed  in  a  previous 
one,  which  came  duly  to  hand.  All  your  letters  have  been 
received,  but  I  have  not  got  them  of  a  night  until  about 
half  an  hour  after  our  mail  closes.  I  sent  you  last  night 
one  sent  from  brother  John  the  night  before,  and  to-night 
I  send  you  another  which  came  to  hand  last  night.  Hut  I 

have  not  time  to  say  more 

Affectionately, 

A.  H.  STEPHENS. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  6(J 

[From  A.  II .  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  20,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — We  had  an  agreeable 

dinner-party.  General  Clinch  told  the  best  anecdote  of 
any,  and  a  good  one  it  was.  It  was  that  of  two  Georgians — 
one  up-countryman  and  a  low-countryman — meeting  at 
St.  Mary's  during  the  last  war.  The  up-countryman  had 
never  seen  tide-water,  and  said  it  was  a  ' '  strange  river  that 
runs  both  ways."  The  low-countryman  had  never  seen  any 
but  tide-rivers,  and  said,  "  \Vhy,  you  d — d  fool!  who  ever 
saw  a  river  that  didn't  run  both  ways?  Why,  don't  you 
know  if  the  river  always  runs  the  same  way,  it  n>02ild  nin 

out  r' 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  December  22,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  letter  of  the  2Oth  instant,  and 
those  you  sent  me  from  brother  John  and  John  Bird  at  the 
same  time,  together  with  the  President's  message,  all  ar- 
rived here  by  last  night's  mail,  and  I  received  them  and 
read  them  this  morning,  (it  being  now  quarter-past  ten  A.M.) 
As  your  letter  reminded  me  of  some  omissions  I  have  made 
in  my  account  of  the  law-school,  my  stand  in  the  class,  etc., 
1  will,  before  I  forget  them  again,  (I  have  several  times, 
but  always  at  the  wrong  time,  thought  of  giving  them,)  pro- 
ceed to  supply  the  omissions.  As  to  nwot-coiirts :  such  a 
thing  is  not  dreamed  of  here.  I  expected  the  exercises  of 
such  courts  to  be  the  chief  advantage  of  coming  here,  and 
accordingly,  one  of  my  first  inquiries  was,  how  often  they 
were  held,  and  how  managed?  To  my  surprise,  the  answer 
was  that  there  was  no  such  thing  known  in  the  concern. 
The  class,  however — or  rather,  the  two  classes  of  law-stu- 
dents— have  formed  a  contemptible  Lai^'  Club,  (I  don't  think 
clubs  are  efficient  instruments — witness  the  defeat  of  Clay, 
backed  by  a  nation  of  them,)  which  meets  once  a  week  at 
nigJtt,  and  with  which  Judge  Tucker  has  no  more  concern 
than  you  have.  You  may  well  imagine,  the  discussions  in 
it  are  none  of  the  most  edifying,  nor  long  in  continuance. 
In  fact,  I  don't  think  there  has  been  a  meeting  of  the  thing 
since  I  have  been  here.  I  shall  make  an  effort  to  get  into 


7O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

it  next  Wednesday  night,  the  regular  time  of  meeting.  I 
have  not  informed  you  of  my  stand  in  the  class,  and  cannot 
do  so  now,  for  the  simple  reason  that  1  have  none  at  all. 
I  haven't  answered  a  single  question  yet.  I  am  making 
great  progress,  ain't  I  ?  Hut  there  are  man}'  others  who  do 
very  little  better;  and  then,  the  difference  between  them 
and  me  is,  that  they  try  and  I  never  do.  They  have  ques- 
tions asked  them  ;  I  never  have — not  one  yet.  Judge  Tucker 
said  he  would  not  question  me  for  "sometime,"  because,  I 
suppose,  he  took  me  to  be  a  fool,  and  didn't  wish  to  ex- 
pose me  until  1  might  reconcile  myself  to  my  fate  by  wit- 
nessing that  of  others;  at  any  rate,  that's  what  he  said;  (I 
don't  mean  that's  the  reason  he  gave.)  And  1  don't  much 
regret  the  course  he  pursues  in  excepting  me,  for  his  ex- 
aminations are  not  close  at  all,  and  could,  therefore,  oper- 
ate as  no  incentive  nor  help  to  study;  and  as  to  display,  I 
am  as  indifferent  to  it  as  to  a  dish  of  eollards.  There  is  con- 
siderable curiosity,  however,  in  the  class  to  hear  me  ques- 
tioned. The}-  don't  at  all  understand  my  exemption,  and 
sometimes  ask"  me  why  the  Judge  doesn't  call  on  me  to  an- 
swer. 1  never  tell  them,  but  leave  them  in  their  wonder. 
By-the-way,  the}-  consider  me  a  queer  chicken  here.  J  don't 
wear  straps  to  my  pants;  and  then,  too,  the  want  of  boots 
completes  the  oddity  of  my  costume.  You  may  think  I 
am  unduly  suspicious,  but  it  is  a  fact  as  I  tell  you.  1  have 
not  been  in  the  company  of  one  who  didn't  cast  a  sly  glance 
at  my  feet  •  (perhaps,  after  all,  their  size  was  the  only  won- 
der.)  To  all  this,  of  course,  I'm  perfectly  indifferent — 
rather  enjoy  it.  Another  strange  and  inexplicable  thing  is, 
that  any  mortal  man  should  get  as  man}'  letters  as  1  do; 
(each  morning  a  list  of  all  the  letters  in  the  office  is  put  upon 
the  door,  and  in  that  way  the}'  see  how  man}'  I  get.)  They 
say  1  get  letters  enough  to  break  a  common  man,  and  to 
keep  the  devil  (it's  their  phrase,  not  mine)  from  study,  if 
he  answered  them  all.  Then  comes  the  question,  "Look 
here:  do  you  in  earnest,  though,  have  to  pa}'  postage  on 
'em  all?"  "No."  "is  it  paid  at  home,  or  are  they 
franked:'"  "I'Yanked."  "Well,  who  the  devil  franks  so 
man}'?"  That's  rather  a  rude  question,  but  still  I  answer, 
"A  brother."  "Your  brother's  a  member  from  Georgia, 
then,  is  he?"  "Yes."  And  by  just  that  series  of  ques- 
tions and  answers  is  the  only  way  these  I  'irginia/is,  or  any 


jrOGF,    I.INTON    STKPHKNS.  J\ 

of  them  (Virginians)  know  that  there  ever  was  such  a  man 
as  Stephens  in  Georgia.  (Great  fools,  ain't  they?)  The 
Alabamians,  however,  and  Mississippians,  and  South  Car- 
olinians, seem  to  be  pretty  familiar  with  your  name. 

But  speaking  of  the  Tuckers  reminds  me  to  tell  you  that 
the  Judge  is  a  half-brother  to  John  Randolph.  He  told  it 
himself,  the  other  day,  in  the  recitation-room.  By  \.vay  of 
quarreling  with  the  English  rule,  excluding  half-bloods  from 
the  inheritance,  he  said  he  "could  have  loved  no  man  more 
than  Mr.  John  Randolph,  who  was  only  his  half-brother." 
After  leaving  the  room,  I  heard  a  very  strong  reason  for  his 
love:  The  Judge,  in  his  young  days,  went  to  Kentucky  to 
settle  himself.  When  he  had  got  there,  Randolph  wrote 
him  that  he  was  unwilling  for  him  to  settle  over  there,  and 
that  if  he  would  return,  he  himself  would  give  him  an  estate 
here 

[  From  A.  II.  S.  to    L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  IX  C.,  December  22,  1844. 

DKAR  BROTHER — Judge  Story  says 

he  never  told  but  one  anecdote,  and  he  used  to  tell  that  on 
all  occasions,  until  Webster  stole  it  from  him,  and  had  the 
impudence  once  to  tell  it  in  his  presence;  and  after  that  he 
had  forsworn  anecdotes.  This  he  related  with  a  good  deal 
of  humor  at  the  table  this  morning — but,  of  course,  it  was 
all  fudge,  for  he  is  always  telling  anecdotes,  or  indulging  in 
jokes,  etc.  Kwing  is  a  great  hand  at  puns,  and  is  con- 
stantly indulging  in  them.  For  instance:  this  morning  at 
the  table,  in  speaking  of  the  abilities  of  the  lawyers  and 
judges  of  England,  Story  was  running  down  Kenyon  and 
holding  up  for  Buller.  McLean  and  Taney  were  descant- 
ing upon  the  merits  of  others — and  amongst  them  Scarlett, 
who,  you  know,  is  one  of  the  great  men  of  that  country. 
Ewing  remarked  that  he  was  certainly  the  deepest  red  (read) 
man  of  any  of  them.  And  in  speaking  of  the  attack  of 
the  Huntress  upon  the  judiciary,  which  you  will  see  in  the 
papers  of  this  week,  the  partiality  of  Mrs.  Royall  was  com- 
mented upon.  For  the  truth  in  that  matter  was,  when  Mrs. 
Royall  came  in,  Judge  McLean  was  the  only  man  that  got 
up  and  cut  out,  and  yet  she  compliments  him.  Some  one 
mentioned  the  fact  of  how  Judge  McLean  had  passed  by 


J2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    Of 

lu:r  as  she  came  in  at  the  door.  Kwing  remarked  that  he 
supposed  she  thought  the  "Judge  did  passing  well. "  Judge 
Story  takes  it  all  in  fun,  however,  and  says  he  must  send 
Mrs.  Koyall  his  card  with  apology,  etc.,  and  that  there  is 
as  much  truth  in  that  narration  as  in  any  history,  etc. 

If  so,  1  pity  the  world:  for  to  tell  you  the  truth,  there  is 
not  OIK-  word  of  truth  in  it  hardly.  I  was  at  the  table  and 
saw  I  he  whole  show.* 

Yours,  affectionately, 

A.  II.  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

UXIVERSITV  OE  VIRGINIA,  December  23,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER — After  filling  a  sheet  and  a  half  yester- 
day, I  found  I  had  omitted  to  tell  you  which  class  I  had 
joined,  ami  also  to  ask  your  opinion  of  offering  for  gradua- 
tion. I  have  entered  the  Senior  class,  which,  in  the  regu- 
lar course,  graduate  next  July.  A  student,  however,  can 
pursue  the  studies  he  likes  without  offering  for  graduation. 
The  only  advantage  that  I  know  of  in  a  diploma  is,  that  it 
operates  as  a  license  to  practice  law  in  this  State.  The  dis- 
advantage to  a  student  from  any  other  State  is,  that  to  get 
a  diploma,  he  would  have  to  devote  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion to  /  'iiginia  law,  that  might  be  more  profitably  em- 
ployed in  other  reading.  The  fact  is,  I  can  read  just  what 
1  please,  and  be  excused  from  what  I  please  by  asking  the 
indulgence  of  departing  from  the  usual  course.  Judge 
Tucker  is  just  one  of  those  old  gentlemen  who  will  let  you 
do  anything.  I  don't  think  you  have  any  idea  of  the  time 
]  am  throwing  away  here  upon  Virginia  law.  Those  in- 
terminable "Commentaries"  are  to  be  the  text  for  a  long 
time  yet,  and  1  think  it  would  be  too  liberal  an  estimate  to 
allow  lialf  their  contents  to  be  common  laic  doctrine.  The 
largest  portion  of  them  is  devoted  to  ]"irginia  statutes  and 
discussions,  man)T  of  the  latter  taken  from  his  own  practice. 

I  am  glad,  for  the  sake  of  your  reputation,  that  the  Sub- 
treasury  bill  has  passed  the  House;  but  your  prediction  is 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  73 

not  yet  fully  fulfilled,  for  I  think  you  risked  your  reputation 
before  the  Raytown  people,  at  least,  upon  the  sub-treas- 
ury's becoming-  one  of  t/tc  i/icas?ncs  of  Polk 's  administration,  if 
he  should  be  elected.  But  1  suppose,  however,  even  under 
this  construction  of  your  predictions,  there  was  a  plain  un- 
derstanding that  both  branches  of  Congress  should  have 
administration  majorities — and,  yet  again,  I  suppose  the 
Senate  of  the  next  Congress  will  be  Democratic,  and  there- 
fore, as  I  said  at  first,  the  prediction  is  not  yet  fulfilled,  but 
is  only  in  process  of  fulfillment.  It  must  be  confessed, 
however,  that  it  is  fairly  "under  way"  and  sailing  beauti- 
fully, with  123  to  65.  That  measure  seems  to  be  decidedly 
even  more  Democratic  than  the  repeal  of  the  2 1st  rule. 
These  two  acts  combined  must  certainly  throw  some  con- 
fusion into  the  Southern  wing  of  the  Democracy.  They 
will  no  doubt,  though,  take  great  consolation  from  the  pro- 
portion of  Whig  and  Democratic  votes  upon  rescinding  Hie 
2ist  rule,  and  on  that  /took,  it  must  be  confessed,  they  may 
shuffle  off  some  of  the  blame  on  the  shoulders  of  "Feder- 
alism," as  old  Blair  persists  in  denominating  Whiggery. 
But  this  will  do  for  this  time — so  good  evening  for  to-day. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.] 

UXIVEKSITV  OF  VIRGINIA,  December  24,  1844. 

DEAR  BROTHER— It  seems,  at  present,  that  the  elements 
intend  to  smile  upon  this  Christmas;  for  you  will  seldom 
see  a  more  charming  day  than  we  have  here  now,  or  a  finer 
prospect  for  a  continuance  of  the  fine  weather,  until  the 
great  "natal  clay"  itself  shall  have  been  ushered  in.  and 
numbered  among  the  many  that  have  preceded  it.  Christ- 
mas, however,  seems  to  be  a  day  of  very  small  importance 
with  the  people  here,  if  you  judge  from  the  preparation  to 
celebrate  its  return.  Everybody,  it  is  true,  speaks  of  ob- 
serving the  day  itself,  but  don't  think  of  paying  any  atten- 
tion to  that  glorious  festive  week  beyond,  which  is  emphat- 
ically called  "Christmas  Holidays,"  and  which  in  other 
places,  and  even  in  old  Georgia,  is  devoted  to  joy  (per- 
haps not  a  very  reasonable  joy)  over  our  passage  through 
the  toils  of  another  year,  and  feasting  upon  the  good  tilings 
it  has  yielded  to  the  labors  of  man  and  beast 

I  have  read  the  debate  upon  the  revival  of  the  sub-treas- 


74  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

ury,  and  found  it  very  badly  reported  in  the  Globe.  In  the 
Intelligencer,  the  report  was,  if  not  more  faithful,  at  least 
much  more  sensible — particularly  with  respect  to  the 
speeches  of  Adams,  Dromgoole,  etc.;  but  as  that  report 
stopped  about  mid-way  in  the  debate,  I  suppose  I  have  got 
a  very  imperfect  idea  of  how  the  whole  passed  off.  I 
thought  Adams  raised  a  strong  objection  to  the  first  clause 
of  the  bill.  Dromgoole  attempted  to  ward  off  the  old 
man's  attack  upon  the  first  clause  by  interposing  the 
clerentJi  to  support  it.  But  the  distinction  which,  for  the 
purpose  of  his  argument,  he  drew  between  transferring  and 
disbursing,  certainly  has  no  foundation  in  the  eleventh 
clause,  which  makes  it  obligatory  upon  .ra^-treasuries  to  obey 
the  orders  of  "the  treasury,"  either  for  transferring  or  dis- 
bursing moneys.  There  seems  to  be  some  difference  in 
opinion  as  to  \vhat  issues  were  decided  in  the  late  canvass. 
Tyler  says  "Annexation"  was  the  issue,  Dromgoole,  the 
"  Sub-treasury,"  and  Caleb  B.  Smith  says  broad,  unmeaning 
"Democracy."  "How  this  world  is  given  to  lying." 

But  speaking  of  Congress :  didn't  Foster  make  a  fine 
Democratic  speech  on  the  bill  to  reduce  the  duty  on  railroad 
iron.  Chappell  must  have  congratulated  his  sagacity  in  dis- 
covering the  allies  of  the  South,  and  applauded  his  patriot- 
ism for  throwing  himself  into  their  arms.  I  noticed  your 
name  recorded  against  laying  that  bill  on  the  table — -how 
is  that?  Did  you  want  to  still  hold  it  up,  and  encourage 
and  persuade  the  vandals  to  lay  their  ruthless  hands  upon 
the  "great  Whig  tariff  of  "42" — that  source  of  so  man}' 
blessings?  or,  would  you  really  like  some  "modification  of 
detail,"  but  so  much  as  "not  to  disturb  the  equilibrium  of 
the  bill?"  Are  you  suitingyour  remedies  to  the  condition 
of  your  patient?  You  certainly  have  very  carefully  exam- 
ined the  pulse  of  poor  sick  old  Georgia,  and  perhaps  have 
concluded  that  the  medicine  heretofore  has  been  given  in 
too  large  a'oses,  and,  like  any  humane  physician  would,  have 
determined  to  diminish  the  prescription  and  administer  it  in 
broken  doses.  The  next  stump-speech  I  hear  you  make,  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  to  find  something  after  the  following: 

"FellQW-citisciis — I  always  said  the  tariff  of  '42  was  not  a 
perfect  measure;  it  is  beyond  human  ability  to  attain  per 
fection  in  anything,  much  less  in  adjusting  the  difficult 
subject  of  a  tariff,  and  the  burthens  of  government  press 


Jl'DOE    TJNTON    STEPHENS.  75 

equally  upon  every  nerve  (you  are  fond  of  medical  figures) 
of  this  vast  and  extended  people.  Our  fathers  themselves 
(then  you'll  wax  eloquent)  foresaw  the  necessity  of  making- 
changes  even  in  the  Constitution  itself,  and  one  of  the  wisest 
features  in  the  instrument  is  the  power  which  it  lodges  in 
posterity  o£  suiting  it  to  their  condition — so  in  all  other 
things,  there  are  imperfections  which  cannot  be  developed 
nor  remedied  but  by  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  test  of  ex- 
perience. I  have  been  governed  by  these  views  (very  ex- 
plicit) in  casting  my  vote,  which  is  now  arraigned  before 
the  bar  of  your  judgment,  and,  as  a  faithful  servant,  I  lay 
my  work  before  you,  and  commit  my  fate  to  the  decision 
of  an  honest  constituency.  The  duty  on  iron  weren't  right 
'nohow,1  and  it  ought  to  have  been  repealed.  I  al- 
ways told  you  jnsi  that  same,"  etc.  But  1  have  been  long- 
enough  upon  foolishness,  and  having  nothing  else  to  add, 
I'll  "just  enclose"  for  to-night. 

[  From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  25,  1844. 

DEAR    BROTHER — 

I  think,  upon  the  whole,  that  it  is  best  for  you  not  to  set 
for  graduation  if  you  have  to  devote  too  much  of  your 
time  to  the  study  of  the  statute-law  of  Virginia.  But 
if,  with  a  little  additional  exertion,  you  could  do  it,  it  would 
be  of  great  advantage  hereafter.  Becoming  acquainted 
with  the  statute-laws  of  any  one  of  the  States,  to  a  lawyer, 
is  a  little  like  acquiring  our  language  to  the  linguist— all 
others  come  much  easier — and  crossing  such  studies  does 
great  good.  It  gives  ne\v  ideas  upon  law,  and  leads  to 
nice  discrimination  of  principles ;  and  moreover,  if  you 
should  go  to  the  West,  a  knowledge  of  Virginia  law  will 
be  essential,  for  almost  all  their  laws  are  taken  from  that 
source.  I  want  you  to  make  the  best  of  your  time  until 
July;  you  can,  notwithstanding  the  character  of  your  in- 
structor, learn  a  great  deal  at  the  University,  \vith  proper 
application,  and  doubtless  your  club  will  hold  something 
like  moot-courts,  or  have  discussions  upon  questions  of  law. 
And  in  all  this,  if  there  be  such,  do  not  be  backward  in 
taking  part,  nor  do  you  be  too  indifferent  to  display. 


j  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKKTCH    OK 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  January  9,  1845. 

DEAR  HROTIIKR— But :  as  I  am  not  at 

all  disposed  to  moralize  this  evening,  I  will  proceed  to  an- 
swer your  other  question,  which  was,  whether  I  retained 
my  hearing  that  "come  to"  on  the  Welclon  Railroad. 
Now,  all  the  "clearance,"  though  perceptible  at  the  time, 
was  only  temporary,  and  has  been  succeeded  by  the  usual 
deafness.  You  once  told  me  that  you  thought  my  mind 
had  been  affected  by  the  rupture,  or  whatever  derangement 
it  is  in  my  head.  I  think  so,  too.  That  supposition  ac- 
counts for  one  of  the  most  (perhaps,  the  most)  prominent 
defects  in  my  mental  constitution,  the  one  which  you  have 
so  often  attributed  to  me,  but  which  nobody  else  ever  has, 
(perhaps  because  all  who  would  take  the  liberty  had  the 
same  fault,  and  consequently  didn't  see  it  in  me) — I  mean 
the  want  of  attention  and  observation.  You  see  I  can  heat 
only  on  one  side,  (though  on  that  side  as  well  as  others) 
and  the  difficulty  of  hearing  naturally  made  me  careless  as 
to  what  was  said — especially  after  experience  had  so  often 
told  me  that  what  I  heard  was  no  compensation  for  the  in- 
creased effort  of  listening.  People  generally  say  so  little  that 
is  worth  hearing,  that  it  is  rather  a  wonder  that  men  with 
'good  cars  should  not  become  negligent  of  hearing  what  gives 
them  so  little  pleasure  or  information  when  understood. 
And  thus,  what  was  begun  in  indifference  has  long  since- 
ripened  into  a  habit,  and  has  now  become  a  source  of  real 
mortification  to  me.  I  try  constantly  to  stem  the  current 
of  habit,  and  shake  off  a  dreamy  listlessness  which  I  some- 
times feel  stealing  over  me,  and  which,  though  it  has  of 
late  yielded  somewhat  to  changes  of  scene  and  a  rising 
sense  of  the  responsibilities  of  life,  I  must  confess  is  still 
one  of  the  most  pleasing  enchantments  of  my  mind. 


The  defect  in  hearing  through  the  right  ear  was  never 
cured.  The  inconvenience  was  a  source  of  occasional  em- 
barrassment to  him  ;  he  once  laughingly  said,  he  could  turn 
his  head  to  catch  a  sound,  quicker  than  most  men  could 
wink  the  eye,  if  he  was  curious  to  hear  the  sound. 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  77 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  January  12,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER — There  was  a  failure  of  the  Northern 
mail  last  night,  (owing,  perhaps,  to  the  snow)  and  conse- 
quently, as  you  have  often  had  occasion  to  complain  in 
your  own  case,  I  have  nothing  to  reply  to  this  evening. 
Yesterday  morning,  when  I  awoke,  the  ground  was  covered 
with  snow,  (the  second  time  this  year)  but  before  night  it 
had  almost  entirely  disappeared.  The  ground  was  pretty 
damp  from  previous  light  rains,  which,  I  believe,  I  have 
faithfully  chronicled  as  they  fell,  and  the  melting  of  the 
snow,  therefore,  was  very  rapid ;  there  was,  however,  not 
much  to  melt ;  for  it  was  at  first  not  deeper  than  an  inch  ;  so 
there  are  no  remains  of  it  now,  except  on  the  mountains, 
which  always  retain  it  much  longer  than  the  level.  They, 
however,  still  lift  their  heads,  crowned  in  snow,  and  will 
probably  for*  some  days  yet  to  come.  None  fell  during  the 
day  yesterday,  but  the  whole  fall  was  during  the  previous 
night.  To-day  the  clouds  are  broken  up,  but  not  dispersed  ; 
they  still  float  about,  and,  before  they  are  completely  dis- 
banded, may  yet  rally  their  forces  and  make  another  dis- 
charge upon  shivering  mortals  beneath ;  but  I  will  not  risk 
my  pretensions  to  being  "weather-wise"  by  predicting 
such  a  result.  If  such  should  be  the  result,  however,  my 
hint  of  the  probability  will  of  course  justify  me  in  claiming 
the  merit  of  having  foreseen  it,  and  I  shall  then  say,  "I 
told  you  so,"  with  as  much  complacency  as  you  can  as- 
sume when  you  shall  congratulate  your  constituents  upon 
your  foresight  in  predicting  the  repeal  of  the  2 1st  rule,  the 
revival  of  the  sub-treasury,  etc.  But  if  there  should  be 
no  such  result,  why,  then  I  will  be  just  as  rmitc  as  you  pos- 
sibly could  have  been,  had  fortune  been  less  propitious  than 
she  has  been  in  fulfilling  your  prophecies.  This  has  been 
a  dull  day  to  me,  and  apathy  is  still  so  strong  upon  me  that 
I  have  very  little  expectation  of  getting  to  the  end  of  the 
sheet  this  time.  Again  to-day,  I  have  failed  to  go  to  church, 
and  for  the  same  reason  that  detained  me  last  Sunday — the 
trouble  of  shaving  and  dressing  after  breakfast.  But  you 
"needn't  to  say  nothing  about  it"  in  your  answer,  for  "/ 
wont  do  so  no  more."  Experience  has  so  fully  shown  me 
the  evil ;  I  shall  hereafter  avoid  it  for  self-defense,  if  for  no 


78  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

other  reason.  Indeed,  all  punishments  seem  admirably  de- 
signed to  remind  us  of  departure  from  duty  by  appearing 
in  immediate  succession  to  the  transgression.  I  have  ex- 
pressed the  idea,  as  "the  preacher"  would  probably  do, 
but  not,  I  believe,  exactly  according  to  the  truth,  for  I  doubt 
whether  punishments  arc  designed  at  all,  and  should  rather 
say  they  are  necessary  evils.  Life  is  a  machine,  and  the 
Maker  of  it,  fully  comprehending  its  operations,  benevolently 
gave  man  directions  for  managing  //,  and  those  directions 
have  emanated  from  perfect  knowledge:  any  departure  from 
them  results  in  disorder,  (which  we  call  pain  or  unhappi- 
ness)  as  the  clock"  must  stop  when  the  weight  runs  down, 
or  a  cog  is  broken  in  the  wheel  ;  and  the  stopping  of  the 
clock  from  such  a  derangement  is  as  little  the  result,  the 
design,  as  the  punishments  that  follow  in  the  wake  of  our 
sins.  The  machine  was  not  contrived  to  run  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. The  design  and  expectation  of  the  Maker  was, 
that  it:  should  run  only  so  long  as  all  the  parts  perform  their 
allotted  functions,  and  when  that  performance  fails,  the  con- 
trivance is  no  longer  adequate  to  answer  the  design,  (till 
after  restoration)  and  disorder  and  confusion  are  the  conse- 
quence. Or,  another  illustration  of  the  idea  is  to  suppose 
life  a  difficult  journey,  and  that  God,  with  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  way,  has  given  man,  the  pilgrim,  a  chart  on 
which  is  marked  out  the  way,  and  all  the  dangers  which 
beset  it,  clearly:  whenever  the  pilgrim  disregards  its  direc- 
tions, he  must  inevitably  wander  from  the  path  and  en- 
counter the  dangers  that  hedge  it  about  at  ever}-  step;  yet, 
his  troubles  and  perils  are  by  no  means  designed  by  the  be 
nevolcnt  Director.  The  design  is,  that  the  pilgrim  shall  ar- 
rive at  his  home  which  awaits  him  at  the  terminus  of  the 
path,  and  the  misfortunes  he  experiences  on  the  way,  so 
far  from  being  designed,  are  the  result  only  of  his  failure  to 
consult  the  Chart,  or  his  disregard  of  his  directions.  But 
how  many  a  poor  fellow  in  the  world  can't  read  the  Chart ! 
The  great  book  of  nature  and  of  revelation  has  no  direc- 
tions for  him,  and  his  only  reliance  is  upon  the  original  im- 
pressions which  Nature  stamps  upon  his  heart  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  journey ;  and  how  liable  arc  these,  too,  to  be 
obliterated  by  the  malice  or  ignorance  of  those  who  are  way- 
farers upon  the  same  great  route,  or  even  by  his  own  pas- 
sions, which  discover  and  pursue  beauties  that  Moat  before 
him  to  lure  him  to  his  ruin  ! 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  "/fj 

But  when  I  began,  I  had  no  idea  of  preaching  a  sermon ; 
(and  I  doubt  whether  the  doctrine  be  orthodox)  and,  in- 
deed, I  didn't  know  what  I  would  say.  But  since  I  have 
been  delivered,  you  mustn't  make  any  sly  allusions  to 
"Combe's  Constitution  of  Man;"  (like  I  did  yesterday  to 
Byron)  there  may  be  a  similarity  in  our  ideas;  (ahem  !)  yet, 
I  have  not  drawn  them  from  him ;  and.  moreover,  if  they 
are  similar,  they  are  not  identical,  for  I  have  the  authority 
of  Sir  Edward  Coke  for  saying-,  "Quad  simile  cst,  non  cst 
idem." 

[  I'rom  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  12,  1845. 

DEAR   BROTHER — You   need    not   have 

cautioned  me  against  intimating  a  coincidence  between  your 
views  and  Combe's.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  your  plagiar- 
ism is  from  a  source  or  quarter  which  I  watch  with  much 
more  sensitiveness  than  I  do  the  rights  of  Combe,  or  of  any- 
body else.  I  think  you  got  them  from  me,  and,  therefore, 
will  not  charge  you  with  taking  them  from  an}-  higher  au- 
thority. But  I  have  no  leisure  to  vindicate  my  rights  at 
this  time,  and  will  let  it  pass  for  the  present. 

There  was  an  amusing  spat  kept  up  between  them  for 
sometime  as  to  the  "plagiarism,"  so  called;  but  so  far  as  I 
can  judge,  it  must  have  been  a  drawn  battle. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.   II.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  January  14,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  morning,  I  read 

the  Intelligencer  s  report  of  Yancey's  speech  in  reply  to 
Clingman  and  others — having  previously  read  Clingman's 
speech.  To  judge  from  the  report,  I  should  imagine  that 
Yancey  was  quite  eloquent — especially  when  I  associate  the 
remarks  with  my  recollection  of  his  appearance.  I  thought 
he  had  a  fine  eye  and  a  prepossessing  person ;  and  in  his 
speech,  he  soared  immeasurably  above  the  whole  tribe  of 
the  whining  Democracy,  who  speak  for  nobody  but  their 
constituents.  You  needn't  imagine,  however,  that  I  was 
at  all  carried  away  by  his  eloquence,  for  I  found  very  little 


8O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

to  approve  of  after  all;  and  yet,  again,  I  thought  he  told 
some  truth — particularly  in  his  charge  of  a  spirit  of  disunion 
upon  Massachusetts — and  he  might  have  added  other  States, 
too.  Massachusetts  either  wants  to  break  up  the  Union, 
or,  by  a  little  blustering,  to  scare  others  into  making  it  a 
little  more  agreeable  with  her  views.  But  really,  it  seems 
to  me,  she  hasn't  much  attachment  for  the  Union  ;  and  I 
should  say  that  she  and  South  Carolina  have  less  than  any 
others — the  feeling,  in  the  one  instance,  springing  from  the 
ambition  of  maintaining  a  reputation  for  "chivalry,"  with- 
out any  real  chivalry  entering  into  the  motive,  and  the  other 
from  pure  Yankee  contrariness  and  dogged  obstinancy. 
But  because  this  might  have  been  true,  it  by  no  means  just- 
ified Yancey  in  declaring  it  to  be  so.  Such  a  declaration — 
especially  when  accompanied  by  Yancey's  impassioned 
manner — can,  I  should  suppose,  have  no  tendency  for  good, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  may  do  much  harm  by  widening  the 
breach  at  the  same  time  it  was  exposed  to  view.  There- 
fore, I  say,  I  found  very  little  to  approve  of  in  his  speech. 
His  attack  upon  Clingman  was  certainly  not  justified — 
though,  to  confess  the  truth,  Clingman  deserved  a  castiga- 
tion.  Yancey,  however,  I  thought,  proceeded  to  an  entirely 
unjustifiable  extent.  I  said  he  soared  above  the  whiners  to 
their  constituents — not,  however,  that  I  think  Yancey's  con- 
stituents were  by  any  means  out  of  his  mind,  but  for  the  most 
part  he  appealed  to  their  pride  and  endeavored  to  rouse 
their  indignation  ;  while  the  puppy  tribe,  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  addressed  themselves  only  to  the  pockets  of  their 
constituents  by  a  perpetual  cant  for  retrenchment,  and  to 
their  vanity  by  the  most  unbounded  assertions  of  their 
"sovereignty."  I  discovered  no  instance  of  such  a  little- 
ness in  Yancey's  speech  ;  he  maintained  throughout  a  re- 
spect for  himself;  and  though  lie  may  have  had  an  eye 
upon  his  constituents,  yet  I  think  the  ruling  motive  was  to 
make  a  fine  speech — one  which  should  tell  upon  the  House 
and  put  him  in  the  papers;  in  short,  that  his  aim  was  to 

acquire   the  reputation   of  an  orator 

.And  speaking  of  yourself  and  speeches  reminds  me  of 
"one  big  lie"  that  I  heard  my  friend  -  -  tell  upon  you 
last  night:  he  told  me  that,  in  your  discussion  at  Dahlon- 
ega  last  summer,  when  you  rose  in  reply  to  his  father,  sev- 
eral of  the  Democrats  left  the  crowd,  and  that  thereupon 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHKNS.  8  I 

you  shouted  out,  "There  go  those  rascally  Democrats,  and 
d — n  'cm,  let  'em  go!  "  He  said  he  was  present  at  the  dis- 
cussion ;  but  when  he  saw  me  smile  rather  dubiously,  he 
stopped  short  and  said,  "But  does  your  brother  swear?" 
I  told  him  I  had  never  heard  you  swear;  whereupon,  he 
faced  about  and  said  he  reckoned  he  must  have  been  mis- 
taken, but  that  he  thought  you  used  "some  such  expres- 
sion."   

I  am  very  much  interested  in  the  "Federalist,"  and  am 
becoming  a  great  admirer  of  Hamilton,  by  whom  most  of 
the  numbers  I  have  read  were  written.  Well  might  Judge 
Tucker  say,  "He  was  every  inch  a  statesman."  He  rea- 
soned admirably,  and  predicted  almost  as  well 

[From  I..  S.  to  A.   II.  S.  j 

UNIVKRSITV  OF  VIRGINIA,  January  21,  1845. 

Daniel  asked  me  if  he  could  propose  me  as  a  member  of 
the  club.  I  told  him  he  could.  He  said  he  would  do  so, 
but  forgot  it  at  their  last  meeting;  at  the  second,  however, 
(which  was  two  weeks  ago  last  night, )  he  did  propose  me, 
and  at  the  third,  I  attended,  as  already  said.  Of  course, 
however,  it  would  not  do  so  well  to  speak  at  my  first  at- 
tendance, and  I  accordingly  reserved  myself  for  last  night. 
I  went  up  swelling  with  a  speech  against  universal  suffrage: 
(they  don't  discuss  law.)  Hunt  asked  me,  beforehand,  if 
I  intended  to  speak,  and  when  I  told  him  "yes,"  he  said 
he  was  going  to  carry  out  a  crowd  to  hear  my  debut,  and 
that  I  must  be  on  my  "p's"  and  "q's. "  There  was,  ac- 
cordingly, a  pretty  good  crowd  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  confess 
that  I  was  not  the  chief  object  of  attraction.  That  honor 

belonged   to    Colonel  — ,    of  Tennessee,    from    "Mr. 

Folk's  own  district."  He  is  a  common  jest;  and  whenever 
he  promises  to  give  a  speech,  (as  he  did  last  night,)  he  is 
always  able  to  command  an  audience.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  law-class,  (Senior,)  but  has  not,  I  think,  given  a  correct 
answer  to  a  single  question  since  I  have  attended  recita- 
tions. He  certainly  is  thus  far  a  very  remarkable  parallel 
to  Chancellor  Kent,  who,  you  remember,  Jim  Jones  said, 
read  Blackstone  through  without  getting  an  idea.  Colonel 
J —  -  has  not  yet,  it  is  true,  read  through,  but  so  far  as 


82  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

he  has  read,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  he  has  gathered 
no  idea.  In  so  great  demand  is  his  oratory,  that  he  has 
been  appointed  by  the  club  to  deliver  a  public  oration,  on 
the  22d  of  February,  in  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of 
Washington's  birth-day.  But  he  has  not  the  least  suspicion 
that  he  is  made  a  butt  of — rather  sets  down  his  promotions 
as  the  sincerest  evidence  of  respect  for  himself  and  admi- 
ration for  his  genius.  If  he  should  hereafter  "astonish  the 
nation,"  and  prove  himself  another  Kent  indeed,  then  his 
college  honors  will  doubtless  be  recounted  by  some  faithful 
biographer,  as  the  repeated  testimonials  of  his  associates, 
to  his  brilliant  parts,  and  as  indices  of  that  genius  which  in 
mature  years  burst  forth  with  such  splendor  upon  the  "  pro- 
fession. "  I  have  never  seen  but  one  parallel  to'  the  Colonel, 
(whatever  similarity  there  ma}-  be  between  him  and  Chan- 
cellor Kent,)  and  that  one  is  Travis  Lindsay;  he  said  once, 
"  if  his  father  would  give  him  five  hundred  dollars,  he  would 
study  medicine  under  Dr.  B —  — ,  *  and  make  a  IT.  an  of 
himself."  I  say,  "par  uobile  fratnun!"  But  as  I  really 
feel  very  little  like  writing,  and  have  written  more  for  regu- 
larity than  because  I  had  anything  to  say,  I  believe  I  will 
bring  my  lucubrations  to  a  close,  trusting  to-morrow  even- 
ing will  find  me  in  a  more  willing  mood ;  so,  good-bye  for 
this  time. 

Affectionately,  LIXTOX. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

UXIVERSITV  OF  VIRGIXIA,  February  9,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  was  glad  to  get  a  letter  again  from 
you  this  morning,  after  an  interval  of  two  days  between  it 
and  your  last;  and  I  was  also  glad  to  find  from  its  date 
(6th)  that  the  failure  turned  out  to  be  owing  to  some  fault 
in  the  mail,  and  not,  as  I  began  to  fear,  to  your  being  too 
unwell  to  write.  You  were  sick  last  winter  just  after  you 
made  your  speech  on  your  right  to  a  seat,  and  the  same 
happening  again,  seems  to  indicate  that  Congressional  speak- 
ing doesn't  agree  with  you,  while  .sY.vw/'-speaking,  instead  of 
hurting  you,  seems  to  act  like  excitement  does  on  old  man 

*  Dr.  B.  belonged  to  that  class  of  the  disciples  of  Galen,  commonly 
known  as  "  Root-doctors." 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  83 

Adams — fattens  you.  Are  you  sufficiently  skilled  in  the 
philosophy  of  the  human  frame  to  assign  a  cause  for  the 
difference?  or  do  you  admit  that  a  difference  exists  ?  Your 
letter  of  this  morning  enclosed  another  from  John,  mention- 
ing the  death  of  Tom  Simmons.  Poor  Tom  !  Though  his 
was  a  small  sphere  in  life,  and  even  there,  he  was  a  quiet 
citizen  ;  yet  who,  for  some  time  to  come,  can  fill  the  vacancy 
his  absence  makes  in  his  own  little  town  ?  To  think  of 
Crawfordville  without  Tom  Simmons  in  it,  seems  strange 
indeed.  I  can  scarcely  think  of  a  man  there  who  would  be 
missed  more.  I  can  scarcely  recall  a  single  little  scene 
there,  but  he,  with  some  of  his  odd  sayings,  and  his  dry, 
quiet  laugh,  seems  a  principal  figure  in  the  group.  It  is 
hard  for  me  to  realize  that  he  is  gone ;  and  it  seems  strange, 
too,  that  a  man's  misfortunes  should  put  him  out  of  reach 
of  the  very  sympathy  that  should  soothe  it :  the  only  hope 
of  befriending  the  dead  is,  to  remember  and  soothe  those 
he  would  have  cherished  if  alive.  Tom's  little  Emily  is  now 
an  orphan  girl ;  and  well  do  I  remember  the  feeling  it  used 
to  produce  upon  me,  to  be  told  that  I  was  an  "orphan  boy." 
Though  I  had  never  known  a  father  or  mother,  yet  nothing 
broke  my  spirit  like  being  told  that  I  was  without  them. 
It  seemed  to  make  me  an  object  of  pit)-  in  the  eyes  of  other 
people,  and  that,  in  turn,  made  me  Jnnnblc  in  my  own.  The 
negroes  and  the  neighbors  used  to  speak  to  me  of  myself 
as  an  "orphan  boy,"  and  I  never  heard  it  applied  without 
feeling  subdued  within  myself,  and  lonely  in  the  world. 
That  was  the  tendency ;  and  though  I  may  not  seem  humble 
or  subdued  now,  or  might  not  have  seemed  so  even  years 
ago,  yet  what  I  appeared,  could  be  no  measure  of  the  cause 
at  work,  and  it  could  be  estimated  only  by  what  I  would 
have  beeit  without  it ;  and  if  I  had  been  brought  up  en- 
tirely free  from  the  sense  of  dependence,  and  unconscious  of 
being  pitied,  I  verily  believe  I  should  have  been  one  of  the 
wildest  wretches  on  earth.  Gleams  of  such  a  feeling  shoot 
across  me  even  now,  but  they  are  only  gleams,  and  sink 
and  fade  ere  they  have  assumed  shape  and  taken  direction. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  February,  14,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER— He  is  altogether  a 

rare  chap,  and  I  cultivate  his  acquaintance,  or  permit  him  to 


84  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

cultivate  mine,  that  I  may  have  the  double  pleasure  of  hear- 
ing him  spin  his  yarns,  (which,  true  to  his  sailor's  educa- 
tion, he  takes  great  delight  in,)  and  then  of  proving  them 
to  be  lies,  as  I  did  the  other  night,  for  instance.  He  was 
entertaining  a  crowd  with  an  account  of  the  wonders  of  Ant- 
werp, (which  he  visited  in  some  of  his  sea-faring  wander- 
ings,) and,  among  other  things,  mentioned  the  steeple  on 
the  cathedral  there,  which,  he  said,  was  about  three  hundred 
feet  high,  and  was  ascended  by  a  flight  of  steps  eleven  hun- 
dred in  number,  and  each  a  foot  in  thickness.  \Yhen  he 
brought  that  out,  I  broke  into  one  of  the  biggest  kind  of 

o  oo 

laughs  (which  the  crowd  did  also,  though  I  believe  in  my 
heart  the}'  saw  nothing  ludicrous,  save  in  the  stupendous 
dimensions  of  that  steeple)  and  asked  him  if  he  didn't  mean 
eleven  hundred  instead  of  three  hundred  only,  or  else  that 
there  were  only  three  hundred  steps  instead  of  eleven  hundred, 
each  a  foot  thick.  He  at  first  boldly  defended  himself  by  in- 
dorsing his  first  version,  and  he  immediately  brought  the 
crowd  to  a  stand,  and  (my  remarks  had  by  this  time  pointed 
out  to  them  the  true  cause  of  my  laughter)  reduced  them  to 
the  unpleasant  predicament  of  not  knowing  on  whom  to  throw 
the  laugh  ;  fearing  that  they  would  prove  themselves  fools 
by  laughing  on  the  wrong  side,  and  equally  fearing  they 
would  produce  the  same  result  by  not  laughing  at  all,  since 
a  blunder  was  evidently  committed  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
and  not  to  laugh  would  be  not  to  perceive  or  to  appreciate 
it — so  the\-  were  brought  to  a  stand;  but  1  by  no  means 
permitted  things  to  remain  -on  so  critical  a  balance,  but  im- 
mediately put  off  all  my  mirth,  and  by  a  very  few  words 
satisfied  every  one  of  them  that  eleven  hundred  steps,  each 
a  foot  thick  would  (let  them  id) id  as  much  as  they  might) 
inevitably  reach  eleven  hundred  feet  high  ;  and  I  then  again 
immediately  relapsed  into  my  former  fit  of  laughter,  in 

which  I  was  again   followed  by  the  crowd  and  by  

himself  as  heartily  as  the  rest 

The  person,  at  whose  expense  the  laugh  was  created,  had 
just  entered  the  law-school- as  a  student.  He  attempted  to 
complete  his  academic  education  at  three  different  colleges 
in  vain.  Dismissed  from  each,  he  tried  a  sea-faring  life. 
A  few  months'  experience  disgusted  him  with  that — so  he, 
as  a  dernier  res  sort,  betook  himself  to  the  law. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  85 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  January  19,  1845. 

DEAR   BROTHER — Last    night,    Mr. 

Clay  made  a  show  on  the  colonization  question — and  such 
a  show  I  never  saw  before !  People  were  here  from  Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia  and  New  York,  to  say  nothing  of 
Alexandria  and  this  city.  The  House  of  Representatives 
and  galleries  were  jammed  and  crammed  before  five 
o'clock.  The  Colonization  Society  were  to  meet  at  7.  I 
came  over  at  half-past  6,  but  found  I  could  not  get  in  at  the 
door  below,  much  less  to  get  up  the  steps  leading  to  the 
House.  The  people  were  wedged  in  as  tight  as  they  could 
be  squeezed,  from  outside  the  door  all  the  way  up  the  steps, 
and  the  current  could  neither  move  up  nor  down.  There 
were  several  thousands  still  outside.  I  availed  myself  of  my 
knowledge  of  the  meanderings  of  an  intricate,  narrow  pas- 
sage under  the  rotunda,  and  round  by  the  Supreme  Court- 
room, into  the  alley  from  the  clerk's  room,  into  the  House 
at  the  side-door  by  the  House  post-office,  and  through  this 
Cobb  and  I,  with  Robinson,  of  Indiana,  wound  our  way, 
finding  it  unobstructed,  until  we  got  to  the  door,  where  the 
crowd  was  as  tight  as  human  bodies  could  be  jammed ;  but 
we  drove  through  the  solid  mass  and  got  in  and  passed  on 
the  space  by  the  fire  to  the  left  of  the  Speaker's  chair, 
where,  by  looking  over  the  screen,  we  could  see  the  chair. 
When  we  got  to  this  place,  what  a  sight  was  before  our 
eyes!  The  great  new  chandelier,  lighted  up  with  gas,  was 
brilliant  and  splendid  indeed  ;  and  then,  what  a  sea  of  heads 
and  faces !  Every  nook  and  corner  on  the  floor  below,  and 
the  galleries  above,  the  aisles,  the  area,  the  steps  on  the 
Speaker's  rostrum,  were  running  over.  The  crowd  was 
pushed  over  the  railing,  and  men  were  standing  on  the  out- 
side cornice,  all  around,  and  the}*  were  hanging  on  the  old 
clock  and  the  figure  of  time.  Such  a  sight  you  never  saw  ; 
none  in  the  Hall  could  turn ;  women  fainted  and  had  to 
be  carried  out  over  the  solid  mass.  At  about  seven,  Clay 
came,  but  could  hardly  be  got  in.  The  crowd,  however, 
after  a  while,  was  opened,  while  the  dome  resounded  with 
uninterrupted,  continuous  "huzza!  huzza!  huzza!"  and 
when  he  got  to  the  chair,  one  fellow  Jiolloi^cd  "  three  cheers 
for  Henry  Clay,  "which  were  given  in  the  loudest  burst 


86  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

you  ever  heard;  and  when  he  got  through,  some  fellow 
"hollowed"  out,  "three  more,"  and  again  the  welkin 
rang.  When  this  burst  was  over,  altogether  cried  out, 
"three  more,"  and  so  they  kept  it  up.  You  never  saw- 
such  a  scene!  After  a  while,  order  was  restored;  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Society  was  transacted.  Dayton,  of  New  Jer- 
sey, offered  a  resolution  and  commenced  speaking  ;  but  one 
fellow  cried,  ' '  Clay  !  Clay !"  the  cry  became  general,  and  soon 
also  became  general  with  "  put  him  clown  !  "  "  put  him  out !  " 
"pitch  him  out  the  window!"  but  Dayton  held  out,  kept 
speaking  until  lie  was  literally  drowned  with  "  down  !  down  ! 
down  !  hush  !  hush  !  Clay !  Clay !  Clay, "  etc. ,  and  then  the  old 
hero  rose.  Three  more  cheers  for  Henry  Clay  were  sug- 
gested, and  quickly  did  they  come;  three  more!  and  they, 
too,  came ;  three  more !  and  they  came ;  tlircc  more !  and 
they  came  quicker  and  louder  than  any  of  the  others.  At 
length,  still  and  quiet  reigned,  as  if  no  breath  stirred  from 
any  bosom:  Clay  commenced  speaking,  and  all  were  silent. 
Of  his  speech,  1  say  nothing.  He  was  easy,  fluent,  bold, 
commanding,  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  eloquent.  At  about 
nine,  an  adjournment  was  announced.  Cobb  and  I  made 
good  our  retreat  through  the  same  narrow  passage,  and  got 
out  in  a  few  moments.  I  suppose  the  great  mass  did  not 
get  out  in  an  hour.  I  understand  that  i^liole  acres  of  peo- 
ple had  to  go  away  without  getting  in  at  all.  Shepperd, 
of  North  Carolina,  whom  you  know  as  being  more  \\liigisJt 
than  Clay'sk,  rather  snappishly  remarked,  when  we  got  to 
our  mess-quarters,  that  he  (Clay)  could  get  more  men  to 
run  after  him  to  hear  him  speak,  and  fewer  to  vote  for  him, 
than  any  man  in  America. 

[From  A.  II .  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 
WASHINGTON',  D.  C,  February  23,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  dined  with  Hunt 

at  Coleman's.  He  had  a  large  party,  and  we  had  a  fine  time 
of  it.  The  best  joke  we  had  \vas  upon  General  Clinch,  who 

was  also  present Sometime  ago,  upon 

a  call  of  the  House,  the  General  was  not  present  at  first,  but 
came  in  (having  been  sent  for)  just  as  he  heard  his  name 
called  by  the  Clerk  ;  and  all  vexed  and  mad,  and  puffing, 
and  blowing,  and  sweating,  replied  or  answered  to  his  name, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  8/ 

at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "No,"  instead  of  "Hen-,"  as  is 
usual  in  such  cases.  This  caused  general  notice  in  the 
House,  when  I  said  to  him,  "General,  say  'Here;'  it  is  a 
call  of  the  House;"  to  which  here  plied,  "Oh,  d — n  it,  I 
don't  care;  I  am  against  all  they  do  anyhow,"  loud  enough 
for  all  to  hear,  which  caused  a  great  laugh ;  and  it  caused 
a  loud  burst,  I  assure  you,  at  the  table.  The  old  General 
took  it  finely,  and  we  had  some  fun.  Crittenden  told,  how- 
ever, what  affected  me  most.  He  said  that  he  had  just  got 
a  letter  from  a  friend  in  Lexington,  who,  in  giving  him  the 
news,  etc.,  remarked  that  Mr.  Clay  came  that  morning  to 
his  office  as  usual,  (you  know  he  has  gone  to  hard  work  in 
earnest,)  when  some  stranger  being  present,  remarked, 
"Why,  Mr.  Clay,  have  you  come  from  home  this  morn- 
ing?— it  is  early."  The  old  Roman  replied,  "Yes,  sir, 
and  walked  at  that;  "  and,  pulling  out  his  watch,  told  new- 
many  minutes  he  had  been  walking  the  distance,  which  was 
a  very  short  time.  When  his  friend,  who  seemed  to  be 
himself  surprised  at  it,  remarked,  "Why,  indeed!  I  be- 
lieve I  will  enter  you  in  the  great  foot-race  to  come  off  on 
Long  Island  next  month."  "Oh,  no — you  needn't,"  re- 
plied Clay,  "for  if  I  were  to  win  it,  they  would  contrive 
some  way  to  cheat  me  out  of  it."  A  noble  old  fellow, 
isn't  he? 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  May  29,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  informing  you 
of  my  safe  arrival  home,  etc.,  and  enclosed  you  fifty  dollars, 
giving,  at  the  same  time,  some  suggestions  touching  your 
return,  etc.  Since  then,  I  have  been  reflecting  upon  a  sub- 
ject that  I  had  before  thought  a  little  upon,  and  have  con- 
cluded to  mention  it  to  you,  and  that  is  the  propriety  of 
your  going  on  to  Cambridge  and  spending  the  ensuing  fall 
at  that  school.  The  additional  expense  would  not  be  an 
object,  1  think,  compared  with  the  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived. I  am  more  inclined  to  this  opinion,  from  the  fact 
stated  in  one  of  your  previous  letters,  that  you  had  not 
taken  up  the  subject  of  Evidence  at  all  in  your  present 
course,  which  is  so  soon  to  come  to  a  close.  Nothing  is  so 
important  to  a  lawyer  as  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law 


88  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

of  evidence.  At  Cambridge,  I  understand,  you  can  pur- 
sue whatever  study  or  branch  of  the  law  you  wish,  and 
I  think  it  very  advisable  for  you  to  take  a  course  upon  Ev- 
idence  and  Equity  practice.  Those  subjects  are  well  taught 
there.  You  could  govern  your  studies  according  to  cir- 
cumstances after  your  arrival.  The  moot-courts  there  also 
would  be  of  great  advantage.  If  you  were  now  to  return, 
you  would  not  get  any  practice  immediately.  You,  per- 
haps, had  better  be  improving  your  mind  there,  with  more 
facilities  than  you  possibly  could  at  home,  though  it  might 
and  would  be  at  an  increased  expense.  You  would  have 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  large  Eastern  cities— Philadel- 
phia, New  York,  Boston,  etc. — with  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  something  of  Yankee  character.  You  would,  of 
course,  go  directly  to  Boston.  .  .  .  The  commence- 
ment at  Cambridge  is  in  September,  and  by  that  time,  you 
can  see  how  you  like  the  place,  and  by  November,  or  the 
meeting  of  Congress,  you  can  determine  whether  it  would 
be  worth  while  to  continue  during  the  winter;  if  not,  you 
could  then  return,  spend  a  few  weeks  in  Washington,  sec 
Congress  again  in  session,  and  come  on  and  set  out  "your 
shingle"  at  the  beginning  of  next  rear.  \Yhat  think  you 

o  o  o  •*  -• 

of  it?  I  make  the  suggestion,  and  advise  you  to  take  that 
course,  believing  it  to  be  best 

[From  A.  If.  S.  to  L.  S.  | 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  June  11,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yours  of  the  4th  instant  came  to  hand 
this  evening,  and  I  was  glad  to  hear  that  you  had  concluded 
to  go  to  Cambridge  ;  for  there,  I  think,  you  will  have  su- 
perior advantages  to  those  at  the  University  of  Virginia — 
though  I  do  not  think  your  time  at  that  place  has  been  mis- 
spent. You  have  made  acquaintances — learned  something 
of  the  world,  if  not  much  of  the  law — and  your  reading- 
there  will  render  you  more  capable  of  improvement  at  the 
other  place.  But  I  suppose  I  need  not  venture  the  opin- 
ion that  you  will  find  everything  entirely  different,  and  you 
will  soon  discover  that  you  know  nothing  of  law.  This, 
perhaps,  you  will  discover  sufficiently  early.  I  will,  how- 
ever, barely  suggest  to  you,  in  order  to  put  you  on  your 
guard :  your  having  graduated  at  the  Law  School  of  the 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  89 

Old  Dominion,  will  cause  attention  to  be  somewhat  directed 
to  you,  and  something  will  be  expected  of  you,  and  you 
will  not  be  disappointed  in  finding  that  to  maintain  a  stand, 
you  will  have  to  study,  and  study  hard.  Nothing  but  close 
application  will  do  there.  It  is  for  this  reason  I  wished  you 
to  go.  Your  last  six  months,  I  take  it,  have  been  a  sort  of 
holiday;  you  must  now  go  to  work.  The  Yankees  arc  a 
different  people  from  the  Virginians.  You  will  find  every- 
thing different — the  school,  the  habits  and  manners  of  the 
students,  as  well  as  the  system  of  instruction.  You  must 
accommodate  yourself  to  the  new  state  of  things  in  which 
you  are  placed;  and,  above  all,  you  must  recollect  that  you 
go  to  learn — to  gain  information — to  acquaint  yourself  with 
the  principles  and  practice  of  law.  Let  these  be  your  ab- 
sorbing thoughts.  You  will  find  no  card-playing,  horse- 
racing,  and  cigar-smoking  there.  You  must,  therefore, 
drop  your  Virginia  habits,  and  bend  yourself  to  work.  I 
would  advise  you  to  attend  to  Evidence  and  Equity  prac- 
tice mainly,  and  never  neglect  the  moot-court 

He  received  the  diploma  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  from  the 
University  of  Virginia,  in  July,  1845.  Immediately  after 
graduation,  adopting  the  suggestion  of  his  brother,  as  well 
as  attracted  thither  by  the  splendid  reputation  which  the 
genius  and  learning  of  the  late  Joseph  Story — clan/in  ct 
I'cncrabilc  nomcn — had  contributed  so  largely  to  give  to  that 
nursery  of  legal  science,  he  repaired  to  the  Law  School  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  * 

*  Judge  Story,  at  that  time  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  \vas,  during  the  sessions,  one  of  "  The  Mess''  at  Wash- 
ington City,  whereof  Chief  Justice  Taney,  Judge  McLean,  Judge  McKin- 
ley,  of  the  Supreme  Bench  ;  Mr.  A.  II.  Stephens,  Mr.  Jacob  Callamer,  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  others  scarcely  less  distinguished  in 
the  juridical  or  political  history  of  the  country,  were  members.  lie  was 
the  central  figure  of  the  hoard — the  soul  of  social  hilarity  and  mirth. 
When  weightier  cares  did  not  forbid,  the  "Attic  nights  " — their  social 
gatherings  reproduced — recall  the  club-meetings  at  Wills',  or  "The  Monk.- 
of  the  Screw  "- 

"  Nights  spent  not  in  toys,  or  lust,  or  wine, 

But  search  of  deep  philosophy, 
Wit,  eloquence  and  poesy — 
Arts  which  all  loved." 

9* 


90  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.] 

HAMILTON,  GA.,  June  22,  1845. 

DEAR  BROTHER —      ....     I  was  very  much  amused 
at  your  account  of  the  first  interview  with  Judge  Story,  and 
the  more  so   from  my  knowledge  of  the  man,  and  correct 
idea  of  just  how  the  scene  passed  off.      He  is   one  of  the 
jolliest  old  men  I  ever  saw,  and  is  always  in  a  fine  humor 
and  great  flow  of  spirits.      But  you  must  be  somewhat  on 
your  guard  with  him — that  is,  you  must  be  very  careful  in 
the  observance  of  certain  rules  of  propriety  and  decorum. 
Don't  suffer  yourself  to  imagine  that  he  has  no  sense   of 
dignity,  and  that  respect  which  his  age  and  character  are 
entitled  to  from  his  inferiors.      He  is  free  and  easy,  and  in- 
timate even  with  inferiors,  if  they  pursue  the  proper  course 
on  their  part.      You  must,  therefore,  always  keep  your  dis- 
tance.     You  may  be  free  and  easy,  and  laugh  at  his  anec- 
dotes, but  never  assume  an  air  of  equality  or  familiarity. 
Forwardness  in  a  young  man  is  extremely  disagreeable  to 
Judge  Story,  and  modesty  with  him  is  a  great  virtue.      Your 
conduct,  therefore,  must  be  exceedingly  circumspect.      A 
high  sense  of  honor  he  quickly  perceives  and  greatly  ap- 
preciates, and  nothing  touches  or  kindles  his  dislike  sooner 
than  the  discovery  of  a  principle  of  lawlessness,  or  reckless- 
ness, or  disorder,  or  insubordination,  or  even  that  impertin- 
ence which  characterizes  so  many  of  our  young  men  of  the 
South.      Be  careful,  therefore,  of  your  actions,  and  always 
endeavor  to  show  yourself  orderly,  attentive,  studious,  cour- 
teous and  decorous  in  all  your  deportment;   for  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  he  is  a  close  observer,  however  little  you 
might,  on  first  acquaintance,  suppose  him  to  be. 


There  Linton  Stephens  first  formed  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Judge 
Story.  It  ripened  into  the  warmest  friendship — to  lie  dissolved,  alas  !  too 
soon,  by  death  !  Judge  Story  died  in  September,  1845.  J-'.n  passant,  I 
heard  a  gentleman — now  deceased,  then  a  leader  at  the  bar,  and  promi- 
nent in  polities,  and  who  was  generally  very  accurate  in  his  statements  of 
fact- — say  that  it  was  Judge  Story's  influence  over  Mr.  Webster  that  made 
him  a  Federalist.  The  truth  is,  Judge  Story  never  was  a  Federalist.  He 
was  brutally  beaten  by  a  mob,  in  the  streets  of  Salem,  in  1812,  because 
he  supported  Mr.  Madison  and  the  friends  of  the  last  war  with  Great 
Britain — he  maintaining  that  the  war  was  necessary  and  just. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  9! 

After  completing    his    course  of   legal   studies  at  Cam- 
bridge, he  returned  home;  and  at  the  March  term,  1846,  of 
Taliaferro  Superior  Court,  was  licensed  to  practice  law  in 
all  the  courts  of  Georgia,  except  the  Supreme  Court.      He 
opened  an  office  at  Crawfordville,  and  at  once  entered  into 
an  extensive  and   lucrative    practice.      Perhaps   no   young 
man  in  the  State  ever  rose  so  rapidly  and  so  deservedly  to 
the  head  of  the  profession  as  he — unless  the  solitary  excep- 
tions be  found  in  the  instances  of  his  brother  Alexander 
and  the  late  Thomas  R.    R.    Cobb,  a  gentleman  of  great 
gifts,  great  industry  and  ripe  culture — who  gave  the  first 
years  of  his  manhood  unremittingly  and  exclusively  to  the 
"jealous  science  of  the  law."     Young  Stephens'  first  fee 
was  in  a  case  which  fell  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Infe- 
rior Court.      Before  that  august  tribunal,  he  lost  his  case. 
It  was  carried  to  the  Superior  Court  by  writ  of  ccrtiorari; 
there  again  he  lost  it.      Nothing  daunted,  and  contrary  to 
the  opinions  of  gentlemen  of  the  profession,  whom  he  con- 
sulted, and  who  were  agreed  as  to  the  legal  accuracy  of  the 
judgments  rendered,  he  appealed  to  the  Supreme   Court, 
and  his  case  was  there  sustained.      How  many  young  law- 
yers any7  where  would,  under  suck  circumstances,  have  man- 
ifested so  much  steadfastness  of  purpose,  so  much  persist- 
ence of  conduct,  and  so  much  faith  in  the  truth  of  his  own 
convictions!     The  incident  is  important  only,  and  is  intro- 
duced here  only,  because  it  mirrors  forth  one  of  the  capital 
features    of    his    character — SELF-RELIAXGE — and    tJiat   un- 
mixed with  arrogance. 

The  following  letter  must  have  been  a  stimulant  to  the 
ambition  of  the  youthful  aspirant  for  a  fair  renown,  and 
gratifying  to  a  pardonable  pride : 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  3,  1846. 
DEAR  BROTHER — Your  letter,  written  the  day  after  your 
return  from  LaGrange,  came  to  hand  last  night,  and  I  was 


()2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

glad  to  hear  once  more  from  you  ;  for  it  had  begun  to  seem 
long.  I  suppose  you  are  now  preparing  yourself  for  ad- 
mission to  the  bar,  and  you  must  keep  yourself  closely  at 
study.  You  ought  to  review  Blackstone  thoroughly,  and 
make  yourself  familiar  with  the  statutes  of  the  State — par- 
ticularly on  Attachments,  Garnishments,  Civil  Process, 
Bail,  etc.  ;  indeed,  you  ought  to  know  well  all  tJic  statutes. 
To  do  this,  and  keep  up  your  other  studies,  your  time  is 
short.  You  ought  to  recollect  that  you  will  have  some  rep- 
utation at  hazard  in  your  examination ;  for  not  only  in  La- 
Grange  are  you  considered  a  great  man,  but  all  your  ac- 
quaintances, and  those  not  your  acquaintances,  will  look 
for  something  extraordinary  from  one  who  has  enjoyed  so 
many  extra  advantages.  Moreover,  the  impression  has  got 
out,  by  some  means,  that  you  are  a  very  smart  fellow — a 
splendid  young  man — a  great  deal  smarter  than  "Ellic"- 
and  you  must  not  disappoint  that  impression  ;  for  recollect, 
when  I  was  admitted,  Colonel  Lumpkin  and  Judge  Craw- 
ford said  I  stood  the  best  examination  they  ever  heard. 
Joseph  Sturges  told  me,  the  other  day,  that  he  saw  some- 
body who  told  him  that  you  ' '  were  a  splendid  young  man  "• 
far  above  ordinary.  Some  Virginian  asked  Howell  Cobb, 
the  other  day,  about  you.  He  said  you  had  a  great  deal 
better  mind  than  I  had :  so  you  see  something  very  great 
is  expected  of  you,  and,  to  come  up  to  expectation,  you 
must  "eat  but  little  idle  bread." 


Shortly  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  young  Stephens 
formed  a  co-partnership,  in  the  practice,  with  his  cousin 
and  class-mate,  Bird,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made  in 
preceding  pages.  It  is  no  mean  proof  of  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  each  was  held  by  their  fellow-citizens,  that 
professional  partners  in  a  business  which  makes,  however 
unjustly,  personal  foes,  living  in  the  same  village,  of  con- 
sanguine relationship,  of  common  opinions,  feelings,  affin- 
ities, should  have  been  simultaneously,  by  a  common  con- 
stituency, elected  to  political  station  at  so  early  an  age. 
Stephens  was  chosen  Representative,  for  Taliaferro,  in  1849, 
and  re-elected  successively  to  the  same  office,  until  he 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  93 

changed  his  residence  to  the  county  of  Hancock.  Bird 
was  chosen  Senator,  for  Taliaferro  and  Warren,  in  1851, 
and  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office  in  1852  and  1853,  but 
died  in  October,  1853,  and  never  took  his  seat  under  his 
last  election. 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  13,  1847. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  must  tell  you 

a  good  thing  Toombs  said  in  reply  to  Burt  the  other  day; 
and  first,  by  way  of  explanation,  I  must  premise  that  Burt 
is  anxious  to  get  up  an  excitement  upon  the  slave  question. 
He  wanted  Toombs  to  speak  upon  that  subject,  and  upon 
Wilmot's  Proviso,  etc.,  and,  amongst  other  things,  told  him 
to  "peel  old  Ritchie."  Toombs  was  listening  to  all  his 
lecture,  as  if  agreeing  with  him,  until  he  came  to  the  last — 
that  is,  Burt's  injunction  to  him  to  "peel  old  Ritchie." 
Here  Toombs  broke  by  saying :  ' '  Now,  by  George !  skin 
your  own  skunk!  for  I'll  be  d — d  if  I  am  going  to  hunt  any 
such  game  !  " 

Mr.  Stephens  was  an  ardent  Whig.  His  individual  pref- 
erence for  President  of  the  United  States,  in  1848,  was  Mr. 
Clay,  as  it  had  been  in  1844;  but,  believing  that  General 
Taylor  could  be  elected,  and  that  another  defeat  would  fol- 
low the  nomination  of  his  favorite,  and  that  a  change  in 
the  administration  was  necessary,  he  advocated  the  nomi- 
nation of  General  Taylor  on  the  ground  of  availability  only. 
The  canvass  was  an  exciting  one,  and  marked  perhaps  by 
more  of  personal  acrimony  in  Georgia  than  in  any  other 
State  of  the  Union.  Stephens  entered  into  the  canvass 
with  great  zeal  and  ardor;  in  it  he  "won  his  spurs,"  and 
took  his  place  among  the  knights  of  the  political  arena. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1849-50,  in  either  branch,  was 
unusually  distinguished  for  talent  and  ability.  The  roll  of 
the  Senate  was  illustrated  by  the  names  of  Andrew  J.  Mil- 
ler, Joseph  E.  Brown,  Richard  H.  Clark,  Charles  Murphy, 


94  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

David  J.  Baily,  John  Jones,  Edward  D.  Chisolm,  William 
W.  Clayton  and  others;  in  the  House  were  A.  H.  Kenan, 
J.  N.  Ramsey,  R.  P.  Trippe,  L.  J.  Gartrell,  J.  A.  Jones, 
A.  C.  Walker,  \V.  T.  Wofford,  A.  T.  Mclntyre,  Y.  L.  G. 
Harris,  Alex.  McDougald,  T.  C.  Howard,  A.  J.  Lane,  and 
others,  then  or  since  distinguished  in  the  history  of  the 
State.  Conspicuous  among  the  foremost  in  the  bright  gal- 
axy was  Linton  Stephens.  When  he  rose  to  speak,  no 
person  commanded  more  considerate  and  respectful  atten- 
tion, and  none  better  repaid  it.  An  assiduous  course  of 
mental  discipline  had  made  him  master  of  his  faculties;  he 
could  call  up  to  his  aid,  at  an}'  moment,  all  his  resources  of 
knowledge,  logic,  illustration,  wit,  satire — indeed,  every 
weapon  of  his  intellectual  armory  he  kept  bright,  polished 
and  ever  ready  for  use ;  and,  like  the  sword  of  Fitz  James, 
the  weapon  employed  was  equally  formidable  for  assault 
or  defense.  It  was  this  power — conjoined  with  an  emo- 
tional nature  and  earnest  convictions,  animated  by  the  in- 
spiration which  deep  feeling  can  alone  breathe  into  spoken 
thought — that  made  Charles  James  Fox  the  most  accom- 
plished debater  that  ever  appeared  upon  the  theater  of  public 
affairs  in  any  age  of  the  world.  There  are  many  features 
of  mental  and  cordal  resemblance  between  Stephens  and 
Fox.  In  one  respect,  there  was  no  similitude  ;  Stephens 
did  not  "speak  to  ever}'  question." 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  2,  1850. 

DEAR    BROTHER— I   send  you   with 

this  a  copy  of  the  address  drawn  up  by  a  committee  from 
the  Memphis  Convention.  Read  it.  Mills,  whose  name 
is  to  it,  is  that  same  Charles  C.  Mills,  of  whom  you  have 
heard  me  speak,  and  who,  at  one  time  in  my  life,  gave  an 
important  turn  to  my  destiny.  He  is  now  here.  He  has 
entertained  me  with  strange  incidents  in  his  life.  Amongst 
others,  the  other  night,  in  speaking  of  the  nearest  distance 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  95 

to  San  Francisco,  he  got  off  upon  the  idea  of  the  nearest 
route  from  any  two  points  on  the  same  latitude,  being  on 
that  line  of  latitude.  I  told  him  it  was  not  necessarily  so, 
and  attempted  to  explain  by  an  apple  on  my  table.  He 
saw  that,  but  thought  it  would  not  apply  to  so  large  a  body 
as  the  earth ;  and  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  no 
doubt  that  just  such  a  mistake  occasioned  the  loss  of  the 
steamship,  President,  in  1841.  He  said  he  went  to  Europe 
in  1839,  and  had  Captain  Roberts,  I  believe  it  was,  in  com- 
mand ;  that  Captain  Roberts  told  him  the  same  thing,  and 
that  he  thought  he  could  go  to  Liverpool  much  nearer  than 
the  usually  traveled  route  or  course;  that  in  1841  he 
started  to  go  to  Europe  again ;  got  to  New  York,  went  on 
board  the  President  to  start;  there  met  the  same  Captain 
Roberts,  who  recognized  him,  and  told  him  that  he  was  go- 
ing to  make  the  shortest  trip  ever  made  between  this  coun- 
try and  England ;  showed  him  the  course  he  was  going  to 
run.  Just  before  the  ship  started  or  sailed,  he  concluded 
not  to  go ;  had  his  baggage  put  off;  stood  upon  the  wharf 
and  saw  the  steamer  leave  the  harbor  amidst  the  shouts  of 
thousands.  The  President  has  never  been  heard  of  since. 
He  says  the  captain  ran  up  into  the  icebergs  to  find  a  ncm 
passage.  But  enough  of  this.  I  was  entertained  at  the  in- 
cident in  his  life.  I  asked  him  what  induced  him  to  leave 
the  ship.  He  said,  nothing  in  the  world,  but  a  wJiini  en- 
tered his  mind  that  he  could  do  his  business  as  well  by  cor- 
respondence— though  he  had  gone  from  Alabama  to  go 
out  in  that  steamer  and  had  got  aboard.  He  had  a  large 
amount  of  cotton  in  Liverpool.  You  know  that  I  am  a 
believer  in  special  Providence :  hence  this  made  an  impres- 
sion upon  my  mind 


All  who  have  visited  "Liberty  Hall"  know  Harry,  the 
faithful  body-servant  of  Mr.  Stephens;  frequent  visitors 
there  know  Eliza,  his  wife.  Linton  Stephens  had  in  life 
no  friends,  white  or  black,  more  sincerely  devoted  to  him, 
and  few  mourned  him  dead  with  deeper  sorrow,  than  these 
faithful  and* devoted  servants.  The  subjoined  letter  relates 
to  the  marriage  of  the  couple.  Shortly  after  the  event,  Mr. 
Stephens  purchased  Harry. 


96  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  March  14,  1850. 

DEAR  BROTHER — In  my  letter  written  at  the  House  to- 
day, I  forgot  to  reply  to  the  request  of  Cooler's  Harry  to 
take  Eliza  for  his  wife.  Say  to  him  that  I  have  no  objec- 
tion. And  tell  Eliza  to  go  to  Solomon  &  Henry's  and  get 
her  a  wedding  dress,  including  a  pair  of  fine  shoes,  etc., 
and  to  have  a  decent  wedding  of  it.  Let  them  cook  a  sup- 
per, and  have  such  of  their  friends  as  they  wish.  Tell  them 
to  get  some  "parson  man"  and  be  married  like  "Christian 
folks."  Let  the  wedding  come  off  some  time  when  you  are 
at  home,  so  that  you  may  keep  order  amongst  them.  Buy 
a  pig,  and  let  them  have  a  good  supper.  Let  Eliza  bake 
some  pound-cake,  and  set  a  good  wedding-supper. 
Yours,  affectionately, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  23,  1850. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  two  letters  of  the  i8th  instant 
(one  enclosing  copy  of  your  expose]  were  received  last 
night.  In  a  letter  I  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  I  gave  you 
my  views  upon  that  matter.  I  think  the  piece  well  written. 
Indeed,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  it  is  better  written  than  I 
thought  you  capable  of,  if  you  will  pardon  this  awkward 
expression.  A  little  more  concentration  would  have  made 
it  a  powerful  paper.  I  noticed  in  the  Southern  Recorder,  at 
the  time  of  the  disorganization,  a  short  statement  by  some 
anonymous  writer,  which  struck  me  with  its  force  and  vim. 
But  it  lacked  the  substance.  It  was  the  mere  thunder  with- 
out the  lightning.  If  your  argument  had  been  clothed  up 
in  the  same  style,  or  hurled  forth  with  the  same  energy,  it 
would  have  been  a  paper  of  unusual  ability.  In  reference 
to  Mr.  Toombs'  opinion,  I  will  barely  say,  that  the  day 
after  I  read  the  piece,  I  casually,  or  "artfully,"  if  you 
please,  asked  if  he  had  seen  the  "Whig  exposition,  or  the 
address  of  the  members  of  our  Legislature  in  justification 
of  their  course  in  withdrawing  from  the  Houle. "  He  re- 
plied that  he  had,  and  it  was  a  fine  paper,  or  some  words 
of  that  import.  I  told  him  that, I  had  received  a  letter 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  97 

from  you  stating  that  you  had  written  it.  He  replied, 
' '  Ah,  indeed !  Well,  it  is  a  good  paper ;  I  was  struck  with  it, 
and  well  pleased  with  it."  This  is  about  the  substance  of 
his  remarks.  Jones  has  not  published  it,  and  I  doubt  if  he 
noticed  it  in  the  Recorder,  for  I  did  not ;  I  saw  it  in  the 

Journal. 

I  fear  we  shall  have  some  weeks  now  of  cold  weather. 
It  keeps  me  in-doors.  As  to  my  health,  I  am  in  statu  quo — 
perfectly  well,  except  that  disease  which  Alfriend  calls  urti- 
caria, and  which  Hall  calls  cxcina,  and  which  I  call  the 
mange.  I  feel  about  as  I  did  yesterday  after  taking  a  sul- 
phur vapor  bath.  The  itching  is  not  as  aggravating  as  it 
has  been. 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  15,  1850. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  send  you  to-day  two  slips  from  the 
Baltimore  Sun — one  giving  an  account  of  a  fire  in  our  vi- 
cinity yesterday,  and  the  other  giving  an  account  of  the 
flare-up  in  the  court  here  Saturday.  It  was  quite  a  scene, 
I  understand.  I  am  a  May  man  in  the  controversy.  This 
is  the  third  or  fourth  time,  I  hear,  the  court  has  undertaken 
to  set  aside  verdicts  rendered  in  his  favor,  on  in  favor  of  his 
clients,  when  the  grounds  were  not  thought  by  impartial 
judges-  to  be  sufficient.  On  Saturday,  he  gave  the  court  a 
raking  which  they  will  never  forget,  and  perhaps  if  he  had 
given  them  a  slight  touch  of  the  same  character  before,  he- 
might  have  been  spared  the  unpleasant  duty  of  laying  on 
so  hard  at  this  late  date.  I  detest  a  court  that  acts  partially, 
or  from  prejudice,  on  the  bench.  May  is  a  young  man — 
Bradley  is  of  long  standing.  May  is  struggling  his  way  up 
against  adverse  fortunes;  Bradley  is  at  the  head  of  the 
"elite."  May  stood  it  as  long  as  he  could,  and  when  he 
did  break  loose  he  hurled  his  thunders  with  the  potency  of 
a  young  Jove.  Now,  in  my  opinion,  no  court  ought  to 
allow  any  lawyer  to  make  such  a  remark  at  the  bar,  as 
Bradley  did,  about  the  verdict  of  a  jury,  without  a  repri- 
mand. A  jury  may  act  wrongly — they  may  act  foolishly — 
they  may  render  an  absurd  verdict;  but  it  is  rare  they  act 
corruptly:  and  they  should  be  treated  with  respect. 

The  House  adjourned  to-day  .immediately  after  meeting. 
The  death  of  Campbell,  the  Clerk,  was  announced  by  the 

10 


98  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

Speaker.  Gentry  then  made  some  remarks,  accompanied 
with  resolutions,  and  the  House  adjourned.  What  is  to  be 
done,  touching  the  election  of  a  successor,  I  have  no  idea. 
I  remained  in  the  Hall  but  a  few  minutes,  and  interchanged 
views  with  nobody  upon  the  subject.  I  expect  we  shall 
have  a  renewal  of  the  scenes  we  had  at  the  organization — 
that  is,  we  shall  probably  ballot  or  vote  several  days  before 
an  election  is  made.  Steele,  formerly  of  Milledgeville,  was 
Campbell's  Chief  Clerk,  and  I  suppose  he  will  act  in  the 
interim.  I  feel  less  interest  in  politics  than  I  ever  did  in  my 
life.  I  don't  think,  if  I  should  live  many  a  year  to  come, 
that  I  should  ever  again  feel  any  deep  interest  in  the  suc- 
cess of  any  ticket  upon  mere  party  considerations.  The 
principles  in  issue,  and  not  the  men  before  me  combined, 
shall  always  hereafter  control  my  vote  upon  all  elections. 
All  parties  are  corrupt,  and  all  party  organizations  are  kept 
up  by  bad  men  for  corrupt  purposes.  I  shall  hereafter 
treat  all  alike.  I  am  out  of  party.  I  have  been  very  much 
pained  lately  at  seeing  the  course  of  men  that  I  once  thought 
so  well  of,  and  for  whose  elevation  to  office  I  strove  so 
hard.  My  only  consolation  is  the  consciousness  of  the  in- 
tegrity of  my  motives.  I  was  for  good  government ;  I 
looked  to  nothing  but  the  common  good  and  prosperity  of 
the  country.  I  was  green  enough  to  suppose  that  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  disinterested  patriotism.  I  thought 
those  to  whom  I  have  alluded  were  actuated  by  that  prin- 
ciple. I  find  I  was  mistaken,  and  I  feel  mortified  at  my 
disappointment;  but  I  bear  my  mortification  as  I  do  a 
bruise  or  a  sprain  I  sometimes  get  by  my  own  negligence 
or  blunder.  I  shall  endeavor  to  avoid  such  accidents  for 
the  future.  The  men  to  whom  I  now  allude  are  P — 
and  —  — .  These  men,  I  think,  I  had  put  in  the  cab- 
inet; I  know  I  contributed  to  it;  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  the  responsibility  rests  upon  me ;  and  I  would  not 
have  you  understand  me  as  saying  anything  against  them, 
farther  than  that  I  have  been  disappointed  in  the  course  of 
policy  they  pursue.  -  is  clever,  friendly,  honest, 

and  free,  I  think,  from  all  intrigue,  but  he  is  wholly  unfit 
for  his  present  place.  He  takes  no  interest  in  public  affairs. 
He  consults  nobody  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  appointments ; 
he  makes  great  blunders  in  these.  He  has  formed  no  ac- 
quaintance with  members  of  Congress,  has  no  complacency 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  99 

of  manner,  but  is  rigid,  grum  and  austere  in  his  intercourse. 
He  manifests  no  concern  in  what  is  done  in  cabinet,  or  in 
the  public  policy  of  the  administration.  He  has  none  of 
the  elements  of  a  statesman  about  him.  And  as  for 
P —  — ,  I  am  much  worse  disappointed  in  him ;  for  I  find 
he  is  a  scheming,  intriguing  politician.  He  was  elated  and 
transformed  by  his  mere  position.  Pie  was  put  into  a  new 
and  higher  sphere  ;  with  this  change,  "a  change  came  over 
the  spirit  of  his  dreams."  He  is  not  the  man  no\v  that  he 
was  two  years  ago — his  opinions  have  changed — his  views 
are  different.  He  was  then  looking  to  his  district ;  he  is 
now  looking  to  the  wide  horizon  of  the  whole  country — not 
to  what  will  contribute  to  the  peace,  quiet,  honor,  renown, 
and  prosperity  of  all,  but  to  the  miserable,  petty  party  feel- 
ings and  prejudices  of  the  different  sections,  and  not  even 
with  the  view  of  correcting  these,  but  with  the  purpose  of 
courting  popular  applause  by  pandering  to  popular  favor 
and  feeling.  He  is  a  theorist  and  an  enthusiast.  He  takes 
up  an  idea  and  adheres  to  it  with  the  pertinacity  of  a  dog- 
matist. He  has  clone  more  to  ruin  this  administration,  I 
think,  than  all  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet  together. 
He  has  Taylor  s  confidence  ;  he  has  more  influence  with  him 
than  any  other  man.  Taylor  is  pure  and  honest;  his  im- 
pulses are  right,  but  he  suffers  his  own  judgment  to  be 
controlled  by  that  of  others,  and  by  no  one  so  much  as 

P .      The  blunder  he  made  was  in  suffering  himself  to 

be  influenced  and  duped  by  Sewarcl.  I  allude  to  P— 
now.  I  have  no  doubt  an  alliance  was  formed  between 
them  before  Congress  met.  The  extent  of  the  implied 
understanding,  to  call  it  nothing  else,  I  do  not  know;  but 
the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  North  were  to  be  brought  to 
the  support  of  Taylor  by  Seward — not  by  the  surrender  of 
the  sentiment,  but  by  making  Taylor  the  head  of  the  party — 
not  as  an  abolitionist,  but  as  a  liberal  man  of  the  South, 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  willing  for  the 
majority  of  the  North  to  carry  out  any  measure  they  might 
think  proper.  The  Whig  party,  in  other  words,  was  to 
absorb  the  Free-soil  party  at  the  North,  and  become  the 
great  Anti-slavery  party  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
Democrats  of  the  North  would  be  put  down  by  their  affil- 
iation with  slavery — the  whole  North  would  be  Whig — 
Taylor  would  be  re-elected,  and  then  Seward  would  sue- 


IOO  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ceed,  and  a  long  list  of  successions  doubtless  loomed  up  in 
the  opening  vista.  These  are  the  illusions  which,  I  think, 
broke  upon  the  vision  of  the  Secretary  as  he  began  to  open 
his  eyes  after  his  transfer  to  his  new  sphere  of  action.  In 
plain  English,  I  believe  he  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Frec- 
soilers;  and  I  believe  he  is  now  exerting  his  utmost  power, 
and  all  the  influence  of  the  government,  to  prevent  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  slave  question  upon  the  plan  of  Clay's  resolutions, 
McClernand's  bill  and  Webster's  speech.  I  am  not  with  him  ; 
I  am  done  with  him  ;  I  have  no  further  use  for  him  ;  I  have 
had  no  unpleasant  words  with  him  ;  I  have  told  him  can- 
didly and  distinctly,  that  his  policy  will  ruin  General  Taylor. 
It  will  break  down  the  administration  North  and  South. 
It  will  leave  him  with  a  smaller  part}'  than  Tyler  had.  I 

have  been   for  months  doing  all  I  could  to  get  P to 

look  at  this  matter  rightly.  I  never  gave  him  up  as  hope- 
less till  last  week ;  and  I  will  here  remark,  that,  if  you  re- 
member last  fall  when  I  first  came  here,  I  told  you  Taylor, 
in  my  opinion,  would  sign  the  proviso.  You  may  now 
understand  why  I  thought  so.  That  point  alone  would  not 
have  caused  me  to  break  with  the  Whig  party,  but  I  soon 
saw  that  the  expectation  was  that  Winthrop  was  to  be 
elected  by  a  coalition  of  the  Southern  Whigs  with  the  Frec- 
soilers,  and  the  Whig  party  was  to  be  the  Anti-slavery 
party.  Against  that  I  kicked — I  detested  the  idea.  I 
would  not  act  for  a  moment  with  a  party  that  had  the  re- 
motest hope  of  accomplishing  such  a  result  by  my  co-op- 
eration with  them.  We  made  a  point  upon  the  Whigs;  we 
got  up  a  great  row  ;  we  shook  the  country  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  The  disorganization  of  the  Mouse  aroused  pub- 
lic sentiment;  the  feeling  of  the  North  began  to  give  way; 
we  soon  learned  that  the  piwiso  would  be  vetoed,  if  passed  ; 
of  this  I  informed  you.  But  the  storm  was  then  up,  and 
it  could  not  be  calmed.  The  Northern  Whigs,  feeling  the 
great  pressure  from  home,  and  fearing  the}'  would  be  com- 
pelled to  yield  their  sentiments,  and  come  to  a  full  and  final 
settlement  of  the  question,  caved  in  and  let  Cobb  be  elected 
Speaker.  Mr.  Clay,  who  came  here  a  Wilmot-Proviso  man, 
seeing  the  state  of  feeling,  seixed  upon  the  occasion  and 
brought  forward  his  compromise  ;  Webster  followed,  and 
twenty  Northern  Whigs,  perhaps  fort}',  in  the  House,  were 
ready  to  follow,  and  settle  the  whole  question.  But  P , 


JUDGE    LIXTON    STEPHENS.  IOI 

(jealous  of  Clay,  and  not  willing  that  his  movement  should 
succeed — that  is,  that  territorial  bills  without  the  proviso 
should  pass,  which  would  always  be  as  good  as  Clay's  com- 
promise,) set  his  head  against  it.  I  worked  with  him,  hoping 
he  would  yield,  but  he  set  all  his  powers  against  it,  and  has 
got  General  Taylor  dead  against  it;  and,  if  we  carry  General 
McClernand's  bill,  we  shall  do  it  over  and  against  the  whole 
power  of  the  government,  and  the  Whig  party  will  be  de- 
funct. Now,  you  see  why  I  say  I  am  disappointed  in  P . 

As  for ,  he  is  with  us  in   this  matter,  but  he  is  not 

worth  a  stiver,  or  he  never  would  have  let  P got  so 

wrong  himself  before  we  came  here,  and  he  never  would 
have  let  him  got  such  unlimited  control  of  Taylor.  He 
never  would  have  suffered  the  whole  patronage  of  the 
government  at  the  North  to  go,  as  it  has  gone,  to  sustain 
the  Free-soilers  and  Sewarcl  men.  But  enough.  Good-bye. 
Yours,  affectionately, 

A.  H.  STEPHENS. 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  19,  1850. 

DEAR  BROTHER — To  be  present  and 

hear  continuous  debates  for  four  hours — to  watch  every 
turn  that  even  a  word  or  an  expression  may  give  to  the 
winding  current  of  great  national  events  which  will  soon  be 
historical — is  a  source  of  peculiar  gratification  ;  but  to  rise 
in  the  morning  after,  and  sec  the  whole  spread  out  in  a 
broad  sheet  for  dissemination  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
world,  is  a  matter  which  excites,  or  should  excite,  some- 
thing higher  than  gratification.  It  is  true,  we  have  got  so 
used  to  it  that  we  think  no  more  of  it  than  the  air  we  breathe ; 
and  perhaps  the  same  may  be  said  of  them  at  a  distance, 
who  are  mostly  benefited  by  it.  What  a  wonder  would 
such  a  state  of  things  have  been  in  England  one  hundred 
years  ago !  The  first  debates  of  Parliament,  I  believe,  that 
were  ever  published  were  written  by  Dr.  Johnson,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Gentleman 's  Magazine  in  1740.  He  barely  got 
notes  of  the  speeches  in  the  gallery,  and  wrote  them  out  in 
his  garret.  I  have  been  entertained  lately  in  reading  some 
of  these  debates.  Johnson  did  not  give  the  names  of  the 
speakers.  The  whole  was  kept  up  as  a  fictitious  report  of 


IO2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

proceedings  in  the  legislative  councils  of  the  Island  of  Lilli- 
put.  The  questions  were  stated  with  such  an  analogy  that 
no  one  could  mistake  the  caricature,  and  they  were  read 
with  avidity  all  over  England. 

That  was  the  commencement  of  Parliamentary  reports ; 
and  it  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  great  speech  of  Pitt,  that 
overthrew  the  YValpole  Ministry  in  1740,  which  is  treasured 
up  as  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  British  eloquence, 
was  written  by  Johnson  in  his  garret,  and  never  seen  by 
him,  who  was  afterwards  Earl  of  Chatham — I  mean  it  was 
never  seen  by  him  until  after  it  was  published.  Johnson 
disclosed  this  fact  himself,  and  in  r.ather  an  interesting  and 
interested  way.  The  speech  was  highly  lauded  at  a  table 
wrhere  Johnson  and  others  were.  The  old  rascal  could  not 
act  the  part  of  Junius  and  remain  sub  umbra,  but  his  vanity 
was  so  great  that  he  said:  "I  wrote  that  speech  in  a  gar- 
ret." This  was  some  years  after  its  publication,  and  it  led 
to  a  disclosure  that  the  whole  debates  at  that  period  were 
written  by  Johnson,  as  above  stated ;  and  the  old  Tory-dog 
Slid  he  always  took  care  that  the  Whigs  should  not  get  the 
better  of  the  argument.  But  he  missed  it  in  Pitt's  speech ; 
for  whatever  he  might  have  thought,  the  people  were  of  the 
opinion  that  Pitt  carried  his  point.  Perhaps  Johnson  was 
partial  to  him,  individually.  But  now,  if  you  please,  just 
think  for  a  moment  what  we  and  our  ancestors  were  as  late 
as  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  what  we  and  they  are  now — 
I  mean  what  the  people  of  this  country  and  England,  from 
whom  they  sprang,  were  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  what 
both  peoples  are  now,  in  commerce,  trade,  facility  of  travel, 
transmission  of  intelligence,  and  everything  that  marks  and 
distinguishes  civilization  from  barbarism!  Why,  just  in 
this  thing  of  printing,  I  suppose  I  am  within  the  bounds  of 
truth  when  I  say  that,  in  one  night  after  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  before  the  morning  session  begins,  the  Globe- 
office  will  throw  off  more  printed  matter  than  all  London 
could  have  done,  one  hundred  years  ago,  in  one  month.  It 
is  astonishing  to  step  into  that  office  and  see  the  magic 
genius  at  work  !  The  ideas  and  thoughts  of  men,  as  uttered 
on  the  respective  floors  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  are 
caught  in  their  airy  sounds  and  fixed  in  strange  marks  or 
ciphers;  then  transformed  into  English  manuscript;  then 
handed  to  divers  compositors,  who  transform  them  into  a 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  IO3 

new  language  of  types,  which  are  bound  fast  and  then  put 
under  steam,  which  throws  off  five  or  six  hundred  impres- 
sions while  one  hand  would  be  copying  a  few  sentences, 
and  in  a  few  hours,  fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand,  as  the  de- 
mand requires,  are  ready  for  delivery.  The  steam-engine 
is  a  wonderful  invention.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  paying 
this  compliment  to  it  when  we  think  of  its  power  on  the 
railroad,  the  river  and  the  ocean  ;  but  when  I  have  lately 
noticed  its  wonderful  agency  in  the  diffusion  of  news  and 
intelligence  by  the  press,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  its 
real  powers  are  as  strikingly  observable  there  as  when  driv- 
ing the  iron-horse  at  his  most  powerful  speed,  or  forcing 
the  massive  ship  against  the  elements  of  wind  and  water. 
But  what  is  this  compared  to  the  telegraph  ?  It  may  seem 
strange  to  us  to  be  told  that  one  printing-office  can  to-day 
do  more  work  in  twelve  hours  than  any  one  in  London 
could  have  done  in  one  whole  month  a  hundred  years  ago; 
but  how  small  a  matter  is  that,  in  contrasting  the  present 
with  the  past,  when,  we  realize  the  fact,  that  now  we  can 
send,  in  ten  minutes,  intelligence  from  Maine  to  Louisiana, 
a  distance  of  two  thousand  miles,  which,  one  hundred  years 
ago,  would  have  required  almost  a  month  by  the  swiftest 
couriers  known,  with  relays  arranged  previously  for  the 
purpose.  We  are  certainly  making  great  and  rapid  strides 
in  making  the  laws  of  nature  subservient  to  the  uses  and 
purposes  of  man ;  and  in  this,  I  think,  consists  all  useful 
knowledge  and  science.  Whoever  contributes  a  new  idea 
on  this  subject  is  a  pioneer  in  knowledge ;  and  whoever  de- 
vises or  contrives  any  scheme,  by  which  any  of  the  ele 
ments  about  us  can  be  turned  into  a  useful  purpose,  is  a 
benefactor  of  his  race.  Science — true  science — is  nothing 
but  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  is  useful  only 
in  so  far  as  it  enables  mind  to  get  the  mastery  of  matter. 
Now,  what  shall  we  be  one  hundred  years  to  come?  This 
is  a  most  interesting  question.  Shall  we  go  on,  or  shall  \ve 
retrograde?  This  depends,  in  my  opinion,  very  much  upon 
the  course  of  political  events.  Politics  and  government,  in 
my  opinion,  have  in  the  main,  since  the  formation  of  hu- 
man society,  been  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  man. 
Government,  place  and  power  have  always  been  the  prize 
which  those  have  sought  and  struggled  for,  who  have  strong 
passions  and  mean  propensities — those  in  whom  the  ani- 


IO4  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

mal  and  brutal  qualities  of  our  nature  triumph  over  the  re- 
fined and  intellectual.  Hence,  those  who  contend  for  the 
prize  of  government  resort  to  all  sorts  of  means  to  arouse 
the  worst  and  basest  animal  passions  of  the  low  and  vulgar, 
to  get  them,  as  ministering  devils  or  demons,  to  accomplish 
their  purposes.  The  good  of  the  people — the  elevation,  or 
even  comfort,  to  say  nothing  of  the  happiness,  of  the  masses 
of  mankind — seldom  enter  into  the  minds  of  those  who  am- 
bitiously aspire  to  rule.  They  look  upon  the  low,  the  igno- 
rant and  the  humble  as  fit  only  to  be  the  tools  of  their  am- 
bition. This,  I  think,  the  history  of  the  world  shows.  Hence, 
in  the  records  of  the  past,  we  read  of  little  but  the  wars  of 
kings  and  princes,  the  intrigues  of  courts,  and  the  change 
of  dynasties ;  and  hence,  the  history  of  our  race,  as  we  find 
it  in  books,  is  but  a  melancholy  record  of  blood  and  carn- 
age. There  is  very  little  consolatory,  much  less  useful, 
knowledge  to  be  gleaned  from  it.  What  a  great  pity  the 
majority  of  mankind  cannot  see  their  error!  The  only  his- 
tory of  the  world,  that  the  great  mass  of  men  have  any  in- 
terest in,  is  that  which  gives  them  the  beginning,  the  origin, 
the  progress,  and  advancement  of  the  useful  arts  and  sci- 
ences. The  authors  of  these  have  been  the  real  benefactors 
of  mankind.  From  this  list,  it  is  true,  I  would  not  exclude 
a  few  of  the  statesmen  who  have,  at  long  intervals,  dotted 
the  annals  of  the  past — men  who  breasted  the  storm  of  tyr- 
anny, and  upheld,  with  heroic  virtue,  the  standard  of  truth 
and  the  rights  of  their  fellows. 

But  if  I  were  to  write  a  history,  ancient  or  modern,  I  should 
allow  the  name  of  no  mere  politician  and  trickster,  who 
pandered  to  the  baser  passions  for  power,  to  have  a  place 
therein — unless  it  were  to  hold  it  up  for  scorn  and  hatred — 
as  some  more  daring  pirate  that  might  figure  at  a  particular 
time.  My  word  for  it,  politicians  are  enemies  of  mankind. 
I  speak  of  them  as  a  class.  They  corrupt,  debase  and  de- 
grade the  people,  instead  of  improving,  elevating  and  fitting 
them,  as  they  should,  for  further  advancement  in  knowl- 
edge, refinement  and  civilization.  All  the  influences  of 
government,  therefore,  are  at  war  with  the  improvements 
of  the  age.  These  have  sprung  up  in  time  of  peace  in  spite 
of  opposing  influences.  They  are  the  fruits  of  an  active, 
inquiring,  untrammeled  intellect.  For  free  inquiry,  we  may 
be  said  to  be  indebted  to  government.  That  may  be  true 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  IO5 

in  one  sense,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  I  speak  of  gov- 
ernment; for  this  very  liberality  of  government  was  never 
conceded  until  extorted  by  the  people,  whose  interests  were 
at  war  with  the  real  principles  of  most  governments.  Free 
inquiry,  freedom  of  debate  and  opinion,  were  never  the  fos- 
ter-offspring of  unlimited  government;  and  the  only  hope  I 
have  for  the  future  is  in  the  virtue  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  in  our  own  country  particularly,  in  resisting  the  temp- 
tations of  those  who  would  deceive,  cheat,  degrade  and  de- 
stroy them  for  their  own  individual,  political  purposes.  I 
am  beginning  to  suspect  and  to  detest  all  political  parties, 
clubs  and  combinations.  I  look  upon  them  as  dangerous 
to  the  great  and  permanent  interests  of  the  people.  The 
people,  in  government,  should  have  but  one  object,  and 
that  object — good  laws — I  might  add,  with  a  faithful  exe- 
cution of  them.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  sort  of  consequence 
with  them  who  may  make  them,  or  who  ma}'  execute  them, 
provided  their  agents  in  their  behalf  be  honest,  capable  and 
faithful.  Integrity  is  the  most  essential  requisite  in  a  public 
officer. 

But  I  am  wandering  from  my  question.  What  shall  the 
people  of  this  country  be  one  hundred  years  to  come? 
Have  they  now  reached  the  maximum  of  discovery  and  im- 
provement allotted  to  men,  or  shall  future  efforts  of  genius 
elevate  them  to  new  and  unexplored  regions  of  science? 
Shall  a  wider  horizon,  and  even  new  spheres,  yet  be  opened 
to  their  visions?  Shall  their  progress  still  be  onward? 
Shall  those  who  fill  our  places  a  century  hereafter  contrast 
their  condition  with  ours,  as  I  now  contrast  ours  with  that 
of  our  ancestors  in  the  days  of  Pitt?  This,  in  my  opinion, 
depends  upon  the  government — and  the  government  de- 
pends upon  the  virtue,  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the 
people.  If  the  people  are  true  to  themselves,  our  progress 
shall  be  onward  and  upward.  If  we  remain  at  peace  with 
ourselves,  and  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  a  bright  and  glo- 
rious future  is  before  us;  but  if  demagogues  triumph — if 
civil  strife  is  once  ripened  into  civil  war — our  course  will 
soon  be  ended,  and'  we  shall  add  another  chapter  to  the 
great  Book  of  Chronicles,  in  which  are  registered  the  deeds 
of  warriors,  the  glory  of  battle-fields,  the  wily  tricks  of  cour- 
tiers and  courtezans,  and  the  splendid  fetes  of  emperors  and 
kings.  .  •. 


IO6  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

The  year  1850  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  United 
States  for  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  "Compromise 
Measures" — so-called — which  led  to  the  first  serious  disrup- 
tion of  old  party-ties,  upon  purely  sectional  issues.  Mr. 
Stephens  joined  in  with  the  friends  of  those  measures,  and 
supported  the  action  of  Congress  and  Government  in  giv- 
ing, as  it  was  then  hoped  for,  a  finality  to  agitation  in  the 
Federal  Councils,  upon  the  subject  of  African  slavery.  He 
saw  nothing  in  those  measures  to  endanger  the  safety  of  the 
South  or  Southern  institutions.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  what  was  known  in  Georgia  as  the  "  Constitutional  Union 
Party,"  which  swept  the  State  by  a  very  large  popular  ma- 
jority in  the  selection  of  delegates  to  the  Convention  of 
1850,  and  which  framed  the  celebrated  "Georgia  Plat- 
form "  of  that  year. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Stephens  warmly  supported  the  election  of 
Howell  Cobb,  the  nominee  of  the  Constitutional  Union 
party  for  Governor,  against  Charles  J.  McDonald,  the  nomi- 
nee of  the  Southern  Rights,  or  Resistance  party.  Gov- 
ernor Cobb  was  elected  by  a  larger  majority  of  votes  than 
any  candidate  for  that  office  had  up  to  that  time  received. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1852,  both  the  great  Na- 
tional parties  accepted  in  their  platforms  the  principles 
of  adjustment  set  forth  in  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850.  General  Pierce,  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic 
party,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  unequivocally  indorsed 
those  measures  in  letter  and  spirit ;  General  Scott;  the  nomi- 
nee of  the  Whig  party,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  did  not ; 
he  accepted  the  nomination  cum  oncrc.  Southern  Whigs, 
who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  position  of  General  Scott, 
and  who  could  not  exactly  approve  all  the  doctrines  laid 
down  in  the  Democratic  platform,  brought  forward  for  the 
Presidency,  Daniel  Webster,  of  Massachusetts,  and  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  of  Georgia.  Promi- 
nent among  the  leaders  of  this  movement  were  Toombs, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  IO/ 

A.  H.  Stephens,  Brooke,  of  Mississippi,  Gentry,  of  Ten- 
nessee, etc.  Linton  Stephens  supported  the  Webster-Jen- 
kins ticket.  The  death  of  Mr.  Webster,  a  few  days  before 
the  election,  frustrated  their  hopes,  if,  indeed,  any  that  were 
sanguine  of  success  ever  existed. 

Among  the  visitors  at  Milledgeville,  during  the  sessions 
of  the  Legislature  of  1851-2,  was  a  lady  with  whom  this 
sketch  has  interesting  relation.  She  was  a  young,  accom- 
plished, blooming  widow — Mrs.  Emmeline  Bell,  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  James  Thomas,  of  Hancock — "a  gentleman  of  the 
old  school,"  a  large  and  successful  planter,  and  an  able  law- 
yer. He  presided  with  ability  and  acceptance  as  Judge 
over  the  Superior  Courts  of  the  Northern  Circuit  for  several 
years.  The  daughter,  richly  endowed  with  all  the  gentle 
attractions  of  her  sex — modest,  amiable,  affectionate,  intel- 
lectual— made  an  easy  conquest  of  the  legislator's  heart — a 
heart,  hitherto,  not  overly  susceptible  to  female  charms. 
The  result  was  the  solemnization  of  their  nuptials  in  Jan- 
uary, 1852,  at  the  residence  of  the  bride's  father,  amid  a 
large  throng  of  delighted  relatives  and  friends. 

This  congenial  alliance  was  one  of  the  many  felicitous  for- 
tunes in  Mr.  Stephens'  life.  Nothing  can  be  more  beauti- 
ful than  the  pure,  ardent,  reciprocal  affection  which  charac- 
terized and  illustrated  their  conjugal  relations :  she  idolized 
him,  while  his  devotion  to  her  "glowed  with  an  ardor  that 
might  almost  be  called  romantic." 

Shortly  after  the  marriage,  Mr.  Stephens  became  a  citizen 
of  Hancock,  and  opened  a  law  office  in  the  village  of  Sparta. 
He  formed  a  partnership  in  the  practice  with  Colonel  Rich- 
ard M.  Johnston — one  of  his  earliest  and  most  cherished 
friends.  Certainly,  the  unbounded  confidence  indicated  by 
a  correspondence,  which  covers  many  years,  discloses  a  rare 
degree  of  mutual  personal  attachment.  Their  professional 
relationship  was  kept  up  until  Colonel  Johnston  accepted 


IOS  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

the  Professorship  of  Belles-Lettres  and  Oratory,  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia,  in  1857. 

Mr.  Stephens  determined  to  devote  himself  exclusively 
to  the  business  of  his  profession  after  his  removal  to  Sparta. 
He  took  his  place  at  once  at  the  head  of  a  Bar,  distin- 
guished, perhaps,  before  any  other  in  the  State  for  juridical 
ability  and  forensic  power.  Toombs,  A.  H.  Stephens,  Cone, 
Dawson,  Meriwether,  Johnson,  Saffold,  Sayre,  Thomas, 
Cobb,  Reese,  Foster,  Billups,  Hill,  Miller,  Kenan,  Harris, 
Pottle,  King,  Lewis,  are  some  of  the  names  that  imparted 
celebrity  and  illustration  to  the  courts  of  Middle  Georgia 
at  that  day;  and  he  was  abreast  with  any  of  these,  in  the 
forum,  whether  standing  before  the  Judge,  or  the  Twelve. 
Before  entering  into  the  law  partnership  with  Johnston, 
their  relations  were  those  of  the  closest  personal  intimacy. 
They  were  congenial  spirits.  They  frequently  interchanged 
letters;  some  of  them  will  appear  in  these  pages.  The  two 
following  are  characteristic  of  the  men  and  illustrative  of 
their  personal  relations: 

[L.  S.  to  R.  M.  Johnston.] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  February  25,  185  i. 

DKAR  DICK — Yesterday  I  received  a  letter  from  E.  C. 
Williamson,  (the  doctor,  I  presume — is  it  not?)  stating  that 
you  had  informed  him,  you  had  turned  over  to  me  his  case 
in  Hancock,  against  B.  R.  Gardner,  and  requesting  me  to 
make  out  interrogatories  for  Drs.  Haynes,  Smith  and  Stone, 
but  not  giving  me  one  Christian  name  for  either  of  these 
gentlemen  of  that  learned  fraternity.  Xor  does  he  state 
what  sort  of  a  case  it  is,  farther  than  that  his  drift  seems  to 
be  to  prove  that  "she  was  unsound."  Now,  whether 
"  she"  be  a  filly,  a  nigger  gal  ot  a  Durham  heifer,  is  to  my 
mind  res  Texata.  I,  however,  being  a  man  much  averse 
to  extremes,  incline  to  the  (not  golden,  but  ebon)  mean, 
and  planting  myself  upon  a  certain  dignity  of  learning, 
which  restrains  its  votaries  from  e.vercising  its  mysteries  on 
the  races  afflicted  with  glanders  and  murrains,  are  enabled 
to  ronounce  with  some  confidence  in  favor  of  the  nier. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  IOQ 

The  shrewdest  inferences  I  can  draw,  from  remote  and 
doubtful  premises,  have  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  Ed- 
ward, Edmond  or  Erasmus  C.  Williamson  now  has  pend- 
ing in  Hancock  Superior  Court,  against  B.  R.  (known  to 
me  as  Burton  R.)  Gardner,  an  action  for  breach  of  war- 
ranty of  soundness  on  the  sale  of  a  certain  nigger  gal. 
Acting  upon  the  best  lights  before  me,  I  have  accordingly 
drawn  up  intcrro'gatories  for  the  three  learned  gentlemen, 
surnamed  Hayes,  Smith  and  Stone,  leaving*  blanks  to  be 
filled  by  your  superior  knowledge,  in  such  places  where  my 
own  conjectures  are  wholly  at  fault,  and  particularly  trust- 
ing that  you  will  prefix  to  the  learned  witnesses  those 
Christian  appellations  which  are  thought  to  preserve  fame 
from  confusion  and  error  among  the  names  of  the  great.  I 
have  thought,  too,  that  the  depositions  of  one  Robert  Max- 
well might  not  be  amiss  ;  and,  therefore,  I  have  added  a 
set  of  interrogatories  for  him,  experiencing  in  his  case 
many  difficulties  common  to  the  cases  of  his  more  erudite 
compeers.  In  each  set,  you  must  be  careful  to  supply  Ed- 
ward, Edmund  or  Erasmus,  (as  the  case  may  be)  and  to 
insert  Dinah,  Mahaly  or  Phillis,  according  to  the  truth  of 
the  matter.  When  all  this  has  been  done,  will  you  then 
please  have  commissions  attached  and  have  them  sent  to 
the  plaintiff?  All  that  your  information  may  not  compass 
can  doubtless  be  supplied  by  Erasmus  himself;  and  when 
all  this  is  done,  why,  then  just  sit  down  and  write  me  how 
far  I  have  missed  the  mark — what  sort  of  case  I  have  to 
deal  with.  If  you  have  ever  said  one  word  to  me  about  it, 

it  has  wholly  slipped  my  memory 

Yours,  truly, 

LIXTON  STEPIIEXS. 

[L.  S.  to  R.  M.  Johnston.] 

CKAWFORDVILI.I-:,  May  12,  1851. 

DEAR  DICK — When  I  got  your  letter,  stating  you  had  not 
fixed  the  day  for  your  examination,  but  would  fix  it  about 
the  first  of  Tune,  I  thought  of  requesting  you  not  to  have 
it  earlier  than  the  fourth,  in  order  to  allow  me  to  attend  our 
Superior  Court  here  on  the  28th,  and  go  over  on  the  3Oth. 
I  have  concluded,  however,  that  it  might  give  you  some  in- 
convenience ;  and  in  case  your  appointment  should  conflict 


I  IO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

with  the  aforesaid  court,  I  could  leave  my  business  with 
John  and  go  over  anyhow.  At  that  time,  however,  I  had 
but  one  case  (trover  for  a  negro)  of  much  importance  in  the 
Superior  Court,  and  on  that  case  I  knew  there  would  be  an 
appeal.  Now,  the  case  stands  differently.  To-day  one 
fellow  has  instituted  proceedings  against  another  fellow  for 
establishing  the  freedom  of  several  of  the  last  named  fel- 
low's negroes.  This  same  last  named  fellow  has  employed 
me  to  defend  his  rights,  and  the  case  is  to  be  tried  at  our 
next  Inferior  Court — first  Monday,  and  second  day  of  June. 
It  is  a  very  important  case,  and  I  must  stay  and  attend  to 
it.  If  you  have  not,  therefore,  fixed  the  day  of  your  ex- 
amination, and  if  a  matter  of  a  few  days  will  work  no  par- 
ticular derangement  of  your  plans,  why,  don't  have  it  before 
the  fifth  of  June,  allowing  me  tii'o  days  for  court  (and  it 
may  be  possible  that  it  will  last  that  long)  and  one  more 
day  to  go  over.  If  you  have  fixed  the  day,  or  if  compli- 
ance with  my  suggestion  will  incommode  you  in  the  least, 
why,  to  confess  the  truth,  I  should  feel,  in  the  escape  from 
the  rash  promise  I  have  made,  a  satisfaction  almost  equal 
to,  and  counter-poising  the  disappointment  of  not  seeing 
you,  and — but  anon.  Dick,  this  is  a  dilemma  which  I  could 
not  foresee,  and  I  know  you  will  perceive  the  obligation 
upon  me.  It  gives  me  the  less  concern,  too,  because  it  can 
involve  no  serious  disappointment  to  you  or  your  patrons ; 
for  speech  or  no  speech,  on  the  occasion,  is  just  a  matter  as 
it  may  turn  up — very  well  in  its  place,  if  it  only  be  well 
placed,  and  not  missed,  if  it  only  be  not  out  of  place. 
Write  me  forthwith  and  let  me  know  whether  I  am  to  take 
the  steam  off  my  speech  factory,  or  whether  I  shall  pile  on 
more  fuel.  The  wear  and  tear  of  machinery  is  too  consid- 
erable to  be  incurred  for  nothing.  It  would  be  like  run- 
ning a  saw-mill  without  stocks,  or  a  grist-mill  without  grain. 
Give  my  love  to  all  "enquiring  friends,"  and  remember 
me  particularly  to  Mrs.  Johnston. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

He  made  the  speech,  and  had  the  "satisfaction"  of  see- 
ing "  D'ck  "  and her,  who  was  to  be  his  wife. 

But  Mr.  Stephens   was  not  allowed   to   gratify   his   own 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  I  I 

wishes  by  remaining  in  private  life.  The  people  of  Hancock 
elected  him  to  the  State  Senate  in  1853.  In  the  guberna- 
torial election  of  that  year,  he  supported  Hon.  Charles  J. 
Jenkins.  It  was  the  closest  contest  of  the  kind  ever  known 
in  the  State.  Governor  Herschel  V.  Johnson  was  elected 
by  5  10  majority  out  of  a  popular  vote  of  about  one  hundred 
thousand  cast. 

The  resolution  he  offered  in  the  Senate  on  the  Nebraska 
question — and  it  was  resolved  on  by  himself  before  he  had 
consulted  any  one — foreshadowed  the  position  he  occupied, 
subsequently,  when  the  principles  asserted  in  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  were  absorbing  issues  in  the  politics  of  the 
country. 

On  the  1 8th  of  December,  1853,  he  writes  to  his  brother 
from  Milledgeville: 


"  Cooley's  speech,  which  you  said  in  a  letter  I  got  several 
days  ago  you  had  sent  me,  has  just  come  to  hand  to-day. 
I  have  read  it  through.  He's  a  pretty  Judge,  isn't  he?  It 
is  a  right  strong  speech,  but  the  author  of  it  is  as  bad  as 
Brownlow.  These  Northern  fellows  are  a  nice  set;  but  to  say 
the  truth,  we  are  all — North  and  South — a  nice  set.  Cooley 
seems  to  talk  like  an  honest  man  who  meant  something, 
and  the  excuse  for  his  epithets  is  to  be  charged,  I  suppose, 
to  the  account  of  provocation.  This  is  a  most  rascally  ad- 
ministration, beyond  all  doubt.  Cobb  is  here,  McDonald  is 
here,  Warner  is  here,  and  Jack  Jones  is  here.  What  it  all 
means  is  yet  to  be  seen.  Our  Democratic  allies,  on  the 
question  of  bringing  on  the  election  of  United  States  Sen- 
ator, all  are  firm,  they  say — they  tell  our  people  so,  and  I 
think  they  are  in  earnest.  It  is  said  here  that  Cobb  has 
denounced  them.  It  is  also  said  that  he  is  to  address  the 
Democracy  to-morrow  night.  Cobb  has  been  asked  what 
brought  him  here:  he  said  he  came  here  to  get  two  bills 
passed — one  giving  the  election  of  town  marshal  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  another  creating  a  new  county  around  Athens,  with 
Athens  as  county  site 


112  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  24,  1854. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  seen  a  report  of  your  speech  in 
the  Herald,  and  a  short  synopsis  of  it  in  the  CJironiclc  and 
Sentinel,  taken  from  the  Intelligencer.  I  was  much  pleased 
with  it,  and  I  was  particularly  pleased  to  see  that  you  put 
yourself  on  the  same  ground  which  I  had  taken  before. 

Hov?"  do  you  like  my  Nebraska  resolution,  which  I  intro- 
duced into  the  Legislature?  I  suppose  you  have  seen  it 
before  now  in  the  papers.  It  was  in  these  words:  "  Re- 
solved, etc.,  That  opposition  to  the  principles  of  the  Ne- 
braska Bill,  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  slavery,  is  regarded 
by  the  people  of  Georgia  as  hostility  to  the  rights  of  the 
South,  and  that  all  persons  who  partake  in  such  opposition 
are  unfit  to  be  recognized  as  component  parts  of  any  party 
not  hostile  to  the  South.  "  It  passed  unanimously ;  but  not- 
withstanding that,  I  called  the  yeas  and  nays.  Stcll,  the 
President,  asked  leave  to  vote,  and  he  stands  recorded 
among  the  yeas.  It  also  passed  the  House  unanimously, 
but  the  yeas  and  nays  were  not  called  there.  I  voted 
against  Cochran's  resolutions  on  Nebraska  (which  you  have 
doubtless  seen)  for  several  reasons:  In  the  first  place,  be- 
cause there  was  no  substantive  idea  in  them,  unless  they 
meant  to  assert  that  our  confidence  "in  the  great  body  of 
the  North"  had  been  greatly  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
the  Nebraska  Bill  had  been  introduced  in  to  Congress — a  dec- 
laration which  I  was  not  prepared  to  make.  To  make  such 
a  declaration  would  require  a  little  too  much  of  that  spirit 
which  expresses  great  thanks  for  very  small  favors.  When 
the  "great  body  of  the  North"  i'otc  [or  the  bill,  then  I 
may  feel  that  I  can  give  the  great  bod}'  of  the  North  a  vote 
of  confidence,  but  not  until  then.  In  the  next  place,  I 
looked  upon  the  resolution  as  a  hobbling  attempt  to  bolster 
up  the  administration.  In  the  third  place,  it  asserted  the 
right  of  instruction,  There  was  no  chance  to  debate  it,  for 
they  put  the  previous  question  on  it  at  the  first  hop;  our 
men  generally  voted  for  it;  indeed,  there  were  only  five 
nays  in  the  Senate  and  none  in  the  House.  I  have  seen  a 
statement  in  several  papers  that  it  passed  both  branches 
unanimously.  That  is  a  mistake.  The  yeas  and  nays  were 
taken  in  the  Senate,  and  five  nays  stand  recorded  against  it. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  I  3 

I  don't  think  the  administration  can  take  much  comfort 
from  it  in  connection  with  mine.  Do  you  ?  Nor  do  I  think 
our  Southern  rights,  fire-eating  contemporaries  can  take 
much  comfort  from  it  for  themselves.  Don't  you  think  that 
they  have  clearly  and  unequivocally  voted  that  their  own 
conduct  and  positions,  in  1850-51,  were  "hostile"  to  the 
rights  of  the  South,  and  that  they  themselves,  upon  the 
measures  of  past  merit,  are  "unfit"  to  be  recognized  as 
component  parts  of  any  party  which  is  not  "hostile"  to  the 
South?  What  will  men  do !  I  offered  another  resolution, 
declaring  that  the  measures  of  1850  were  "wise,  liberal  and 
just,"  etc.,  but  some  of  our  own  friends  were  tender  on  that 

point,  and  I  did  not  press  it  to  a  vote.      Our  friend 

would  have  been  in  some  trouble — not  more,  to  be  sure, 
than  from  the  one  which  was  passed ;  but  still  some  did  not 
seem  to  see  it  in  that  same  light.  Indeed,  the  Democracy 
never  suspected,  for  an  instant,  that  my  Nebraska  resolution 
contained  anything  that,  could  be  construed  into  a  reflection 
upon  their  own  past  course,  nor  upon  the  purity  and  pro- 
priety of  their  present  alliance 

The  life  of  no  professional  man  is  more  barren  of  inci- 
dents of  general  interest  than  that  of  the  lawyer  ;  for  it  is  a 
short  radius  that  sweeps  in  judges,  juries  and  clients  only. 
The  year  1854  found  Mr.  Stephens  diligently  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession ;  and  as  his  reputation  grew 
and  spread,  the  emoluments  he  reaped  were  large  and  rich. 
The  letters  following  relate  to  his  domestic  life  and  pursuits, 
and  bring  out  to  view  some  of  the  gentler  and  more  amiable 
features  of  his  character: 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  June  28,  1854. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I    had  heard 

of  the  death  of  poor  cousin  Sabra  before  I  got  your  letter 
announcing  it.  John  Stewart  (Billy  Harrison's  son-in-law) 
was  over  here  and  told  me  of  it.  I  have  known  her  so  long 
and  well- — have  spent  so  many  cheerful,  happy  moments  in 
her  company — that  her  image  mingles,  at  almost  every  turn 
II* 


114  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

and  corner,  with  all  the  many  other  figures  that  flit  in 
throngs,  varying  and  changing  through  all  the  scenes  which 
memory  wakes.  To  strike  out  her  existence  from  the  face 
of  the  earth — I  cannot  realize  it !  It  seems  strange  and  in- 
credible to  me  that  it  should  be  so !  Her  days  had  not 
been  very  many,  and  yet  they  had  indeed  been  full  of 
trouble.  She  bore  a  cheerful  spirit  through  every  trial,  and 
evinced  in  every  emergency  more  of  the  spirit  of  true  phi- 
losophy than  anybody  I  ever  knew,  who  was  a  woman,  and 
had  no  greater  share  of  intellectual  endowment. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  June  29,  1854. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Before 

getting  your  letter,  I  had  mailed  one  to  you,  in  which  I  had 
spoken  of  the  same  subject  in  a  manner  which  struck  me 
as  bearing  a  singular  resemblance  to  the  train  of  thought 
suggested  to  you  by  the  same  occasion.  Since  I  have  heard 
of  her  death,  she  is  constantly  in  my  thoughts,  awaking  as- 
sociations with  brother,  with  Billy,  and  with  my  school-boy 
days,  that  have  not  been  so  vividly  presented  to  my  mem- 
ory in  many  years.  It  all  impresses  me  painfully  with  a 
sense  of  how  they  have  passed  away  forever  from  earth,  and 
how  we  are  rapidly  passing  away  likewise.  Life,  with  its 
longest  continuance,  with  all  its  joys,  with  all  its  sorrows, 
with  all  its  associations,  with  thousands  of  other  existences, 
seems  but  a  flash — blazing  but  for  an  instant,  and  then  sink- 
ing again  into  impenetrable  darkness — a  mere  point,  un- 
marked, in  the  vastness  of  that  immeasurable  FJcrnity  which 
lies  behind  it  and  before  it. 


The  succeeding  letter  was  written  on  occasion  of  the 
death  of  an  infant  but  a  few  months  old.  He  was  devotedly 
attached  to  all  his  children,  as  this  narrative  will  abundantly 
show;  but  his  yearning  tenderness  seemed  ever  to  run  out 
most  fondly  for  the  latest-born,  because  the  youngest  and 
most  helpless.  It  was  but  the  exemplification,  in  another 
form,  of  one  strong  element  of  his  nature : 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  I  I  5 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  August  24,  1854. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  struggle  is  over,  and  little  Kate  is 
no  more  in  life.  She  went  out  as  quietly  and  beautifully  as 
the  day  dies  away  into  the  twilight  and  darkness.  She  is 
lying  robed  in  white,  in  her  crib.  They  have  scattered 
flowers  around  her  tiny  form,  and  she  holds  a  white  rose- 
bud in  one  of  her  little  hands.  She  seems  to  be  in  a  sweet 
sleep.  I  had  not  thought  it  possible  for  me  to  feel  so 
keenly  the  death  of  one  so  young.  Strange  to  say,  she  now 
has — as  she  never  had  struck  me  strongly  as  having  before — 
a  likeness  to  you.  It  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  Emm,  and 
I  had  thought  I  had  observed  it  before,  but  had  not  men- 
tioned it.  She  died  at  6^  o'clock  this  morning.  She  will 
dwell  on  my  memory  as  she  appeared  in  the  beauty  of 
health,  but  I  shall  not  regret  to  mingle  with  that  bright 
image  the  little  pale,  sweet  face  that  now  sleeps  in  its  last 
mortal  array.  One  comfort  I  have,  even  in  this  first  burst 
of  grief:  I  feel  that,  while  I  am  deeply  touched  and  smitten, 
I  might  have  been  desolated  and  blasted.  Good-bye. 

Affectionately,  LINTON. 

Addison,  of  all  the  English  fine  writers  of  prose,  was  the 
favorite  of  Mr.  Stephens.  It  was  not  the  unequaled  style 
of  the  author  that  attracted  him  only,  but  the  soul  and  sen- 
timent that  animate  his  pages  as  well. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  i,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Addi- 
son is  to  me,  of  all  men,  the  most  pious,  rational  and  en- 
tertaining upon  subjects  of  a  religious  bearing.  Another 
very  pretty,  and  to  me  novel,  speculation  of  his  is  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Jews  as  a  people.  Upon  such  subjects  he  is 
full  of  piety  and  free  from  superstition — so  abounding  in 
fine  philosophy,  and  so  exempt  from  fine-spun  theories,  so 
fruitful  of  profound  suggestions,  and  so  joyous  in  the  health- 
ful hope  of  a  cheerful  spirit,  that  to  read  his  religious  spec- 
ulations is  food  equally  for  the  reason,  the  imagination  and 


I  1 6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

the  heart.  I  know  of  no  writings  having  so  fine  a  tendency 
as  his  to  cultivate  a  sound  and  cheerful  piety.  I  don't  won- 
der that  the  man  had  friends  of  so  much  devotion  to  him ; 
for  he  clearly  possessed  just  that  sort  of  sense,  and  flowing 
charitableness  and  pleasantry,  which  are  so  well  qualified 
to  inspire  attachments  amounting  to  personal  devotion. 
But  you  don't  agree  with  me  about  Adclison ;  and  I  verily 
believe  it  is  because  you  are  not  acquainted  with  him.  His 
fine  veins  are  somewhat  rare,  but  they  are  rich.  A  man 
may  be  able  to  say  that  he  has  read  many  of  his  pieces,  and 
yet  no  man  can  appreciate  him  unless  he  has  read  them 
all 

The  nomination  of  General  Scott,  in  1852,  by  the  Na- 
tional Whig  Convention,  for  the  Presidency,  disrupted  the 
party.  A  majority,  perhaps,  of  the  Old-Line  Whigs  went 
into  the  Know- Nothing  organization — or,  as  it  was  after- 
wards called,  the  American  party — which  loomed  up  so 
suddenly  and  so  formidably  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1854.  The  history  of  American  politics  furnishes  no  in 
stance — with  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Anti-Masonic 
party  in  1832 — of  a  political  party,  which  sprang  up  with 
such  surprising  quickness,  having  such  thorough  organiza- 
tion, numerically  so  powerful,  and  whose  existence  was  so 
ephemeral,  as  the  Know-Nothing,  or  American  party.  It 
swept  the  country — North,  and  West,  and  Kast — with  a 
tide  of  unbroken  success,  until  the  current  was  first  rolled 
back  and  lashed  into  spray  as  it  dashed  against  the  Gibral- 
tar of  the  Virginian  Democracy.  Mr.  Stephens  was  among 
its  earliest  opponents  in  Georgia.  He,  along  with  proba- 
bly twenty  thousand  Whigs  in  Georgia,  locked  shields  with 
the  Democrats  to  defeat  it  in  1855. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  17,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTH KR — The  Know-Nothings 

here  are  holding  up  their  heads  high  at  the  news  from  Phila- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  I/ 

delphia  about  the  adoption  of  the  platform,  and  the  seces- 
sion of  the  fifty-three  Northern  members.  There  is  just 
one  remark  I  have  to  make  now  in  the  hurry  of  the  present 
moment,  concerning  that  same  platform,  illustrating  the 
great  gulf  between  that  and  the  fourth  resolution  of  the 
Georgia  platform  :  A  man  is  about  to  strike  me ;  I  announce 
to  him  that  if  he  does,  I  shall  shoot  him.  Another  man,  a 
by-stander,  says  to  that  man,  he  is  wrong  to  strike  me,  but 
says  no  more.  He  fails  to  say  I  will  be  right  in  resisting 
by  shooting.  Does  that  by-stander  back  my  position  ?  By 
no  means ;  he  condemns  my  adversary,  it  is  true ;  but  .he  fails 
to  justify  me.  He  is  silent  as  to  the  extent  of  the  wrong, 
and  as  to  the  measure  of  resistance.  This  Philadelphia  plat- 
form contains  no  fighting  line.  It  announces  a  principle, 
but  fails  to  announce  at  what  hazard  it  ought  to  be  main- 
tained, or  what  ought  to  be  the  consequences  of  its  viola 
tion.  It  does  not  place  anybody,  North  or  South,  upon  a 
platform  of  resistance.  It  declares  it  is  wrong  for  people 
to  spit  in  our  faces.  You  may  not  see  the  force  of  my  criti- 
cism ;  but  I  tell  you,  it  is  just,  and  I  can  make  you  compre- 
hend it  when  I  see  you.  There  was  no  fighting  line,  I  know, 
in  either  of  the  late  Baltimore  platforms;  but  its  omission 
left  an  immeasurable  distance  between  them  and  the  Geor- 
gia platform.  You  may  be  inclined  to  suggest  that  a  fight- 
ing National  platform  (one  adopted  by  the  people  in  all 
sections)  would  be  inappropriate  and  out  of  place.  I  would 
not  have  the  North  to  declare  that  they  would  themselves 
fight  in  our  cause  precisely,  but  I  would  have  them  affix  a 
value  to  our  rights  by  announcing  a  conviction  that  their 
violation  would  justify  resistance  and  separation.  Such  a 
recognition  would  be  of  vast  importance  to  us  whenever  the 
separation  might  come.  Under  it  we  would  stand  justified 
in  doing  what  we  have  said  at  home  we  will  do  when  the 
emergency  arises 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  18,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Still  no  letter  from  you.  What  is  the 
matter?  I  have  had  none  from  you  since  those  I  found  on 
my  return  from  Savannah  last  Saturday,  now  nearly  a  week 
ago.  Have  you  made  a  speech  and  been  busy  writing  it 


Il8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

out?  If  you  have  been  taken  up  with  that  matter  during 
the  whole  interval  between  your  letters,  you  surely  have 
been  playing  it  a  la  Campbell — writing  what  you  didrit 
speak.  I  observed  that  you  had  the  floor  for  Friday ;  but  I 
found  this  morning  that  neither  House  of  Congress  sat  on 
that  day,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Senator  Norris. 
So,  I  suppose,  you  delivered  your  speech  Saturday,  unless 
that  be,  as  I  think  it  used  to  be,  private-bill  day.  But 
what  were  you  doing  all  the  week  before?  Monday,  the 
eighth,  is  the  last  date  I  have  from  you — ten  days  ago — or 
have  you  only  been  trying  the  virtue  of  that  forbidden  law, 
the  lex  talionis  ?  or,  in  English  words,  giving  me  tit  for  tat? 
It  is  true,  I  did  not  write  to  yo\i  any  time  during  my  several 
days'  absence  at  Savannah ;  and  it  is  also  true,  that  just  be- 
fore leaving  home,  I  said  I  would  write  from  Savannah ;  but 
you  would  excuse  the  failure  if  you  knew  how  poor  the 
chance  was  there  for  writing  with  comfort  or  convenience. 
My  interpretation  of  the  whole  thing  throws  the  onus  on 

the  mails The    Know-Nothings  are  a 

great  power  in  the  State  just  now — greater  than  you  may 
have  imagined  in  Georgia.  They  aim  at  an  evil  no  doubt; 
but  they  are  on  the  opposite  extreme.  The  result  may  be 
great  good  to  the  country;  but  the  man  who  desires  to  do 
right,  and  to  be  found  in  the  right  ahvays,  would  desire  to 
be  found' on  neither  extreme,  but  on  the  ground  of  sound 
doctrine.  Affectionately,  LINTON. 

The  two  next  letters  show  his  opinion  of  the  celebrated 
speech  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens,  in  reply  to  that  of  Mr.  L. 
D.  Campbell,  wherein  the  resources  of  Georgia  and  Ohio 
were  contrasted. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  24,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Henry 

has  brought  up  my  mail  since  our  return,  and,  among  other 
things,  I  got  two  copies  of  your  late  speech  in  reply  to 
Campbell.  Both  copies  are  in  the  Globe,  and  came  under 
your  frank.  I  have  already  read  more  than  half  of  your 
speech,  but  have  laid  it  down  in  order  to  have  a  few  lines 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  119 

for  you  in  the  mail  of  to-day.  I  will  write  you  what  I 
think  of  the  speech  after  I  have  read  it  all.  I  will,  how- 
ever, give  you  notice  now,  after  reading  a  part  only,  that  I 
intend  to  perform  a  very  friendly  office  towards  it,  accord- 
ing to  your  own  estimate  of  what  is  friendly  and  useful 
criticism — that  is  to  say,  I  am  going  to  find  some  fault  with 
it.  I  will  say,  however,  that  as  yet  I  have  no  faults  ot 
matter  to  charge,  but  one  or  two  purely  of  manner.  The 
gravest  one  is  more  properly,  yet  a  fault  of  taste.  But  for 
the  present,  you  must  be  patient,  and  wait  for  the  whole  at 
once.  I  never  did  like  to  take  a  bad  thing  in  broken  doses, 
and  in  administering  one,  I  will  be  equally  considerate.  .  . 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  24,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — To-day  I  wrote  you  a  letter,  not  very 
short  or  very  long,  which  has  gone,  or  ought  to  have  gone, 
by  to-day's  mail.  It  is  night  now,  and  I  have  read  over 
your  speech  twice — though,  when  I  wrote  to-day,  I  had 
read  only  a  part  once.  I  promised  you  to-day  to  do  a 
friendly  office  for  your  speech  by  finding  fault  with  it.  1 
confess  that  my  feeling  of  fault-finding  was  stronger  then 
than  it  is  now.  From  reading  the  whole  speech,  I  more 
perfectly  caught  and  appreciated  the  spirit  of  the  whole,  or 
I  became  more  biased.  But  I  still  adhere  to  my  original 
impression,  that  part  of  the  speech  is  not  in  keeping  with 
the  best  taste.  That  part  which  occurs  early  in  the  speech, 
and  which  alludes  to  your  record  as  one  that  had  not  been 
made  for  an  hour,  or  an  electioneering  campaign,  but  for 
all  time,  and  by  which  you  are  willing  to  abide,  living  and 
dead,  is  somewhat  Bentonian  in  its  tone,  and,  even  consid- 
ered by  itself,  is  to  be  regarded  by  good  judges  as  out  oi 
taste.  That,  however,  by  itself,  might  be  regarded,  not 
only  as  free  from  blemish,  but  as  a  noble  expression  at  once 
of  defiance  to  your  own  generation,  and  of  appeal  to  pos- 
terity; but  when  you  spoke  of  your  "tables"  as  something 
that  would  do  "to  keep,"  and  that  you  meant  "to  keep" 
the  likeness  of  "old  Bullion,"  became  too  palpable  to  be 
quite  agreeable  to  a  delicate  sense  of  modesty.  But  after 
reading  the  whole  speech,  I  could  not  precisely  find  it  in 
my  heart  to  say  that  you  had  transcended  the  provocation. 


I2O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

Without  commenting  further  upon  the  manner,  which  I 
took  up  first  as  being  of  the  least  importance,  I  proceed  to 
speak  of  the  matter;  and  upon  that  point,  I  suspect  (from 
the  speech  itself)  that  you  will  be  astonished  when  I  say 
that  it  is  the  greatest  speech  you  ever  made,  and  a  speech, 
marking  more' distinctly  than  any  other  in  American  his- 
tory, the  commencement  of  a  nciv  era.  I  do  not  believe, 
from  the  speech  itself,  and  from  the  manner  in  which  you 
have  put  it  up,  that  you  regard  it  in  the  high  light  in  which 
i  hold  it.  Your  speech  in  reply  to  Mace  foreshadows,  and 
this  speech  clearly  and  distinctly  reveals,  a  new  idea;  and 
that  is,  the  comparative  effects  of  free  and  slave  labor  upon 
all  the  developments,  and  consequently  upon  the  prosperity, 
of  a  country.  I  can  truly  say,  that  while  to  me  your  general 
idea  is  not  a  new  one,  yet,  that  your  manner  of  illustrating 
it  is  wholly  new,  and  very  striking.  Allow  me  to  give  you 
another  idea  which  bears  upon  the  philanthropic  view,  and 
which,  though  obvious,  has  never  been  hinted  at,  by  any- 
body whomsoever,  within  my  knowledge.  The  office  per- 
formed by  the  African — menial  services  and  manual  labor — is 
one  which,  on  universal  confession,  must  be  performed  in 
every  country  by  somebody :  now,  in  the  view  of  the  philan- 
thropist, who  looks  to  the  interest  of  mankind,  is  there  any 
difference  between  confining  these  offices  to  a  class  of  men 
defined  by  blood,  or  diffusing  them  through  a  class  marked 
by  poverty  ?  The  same  amount  of  that  kind  of  labor  is  nec- 
essary to  be  performed  for  a  given  community;  and  is  it 
any  misfortune  that  it  should  all  (even)  be  performed  by 
the  black  man,  unless  there  be  some  superiority  of  the  black 
man  over  the  white?  But,  on  the  contrary,  are  there  not 
several  strong  reasons  for  throwing  it  upon  the  black  man 
rather  than  the  white?  I  will  allude  only  to  the  great  line 
of  demarkation  arising  out  of  color,  and  to  the  known  su- 
perior docility  of  the  black  race.  As  a  question  of  humanity, 
we  inquire  obviously  into  the  numbers  only,  and  not  into 
the  color,  of  those  engaged  in  pursuits  of  inferior  rank  or 
dignity.  This,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  germ  of  a  new  and  un- 
touched view  of  slavery,  as  a  social,  and  particularly  as  a 
humane  institution.  I  could  enlarge  upon  it  to  a  great  ex- 
tent; indeed,  I  have  fora  good  while  been  thinking  of  pre- 
senting it,  in  some  amplitude,  in  the  shape  of  an  article  for 
some  review.  1  only  throw  it  out,  however,  as  a  thought 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  121 

to  you,  and  as  a  most  powerful  forerunner  and  auxiliary  to 
the  train  of  thought  pursued  in  your  last  speech.  This 
idea  of  mine,  when  fully  comprehended,  reduces  the  whole 
discussion  to  two  simple  considerations — the  effect  of  slavery 
upon  the  master  in  regard  to  physical,  moral,  and  intel- 
lectual development  and  progress,  and  its  effect  upon  the 
slave,  or  upon  that  class,  which  answers  to  the  condition 
and  offices  of  the  slave,  in  the  same  particulars.  Upon  the 
latter  branch  of  the  inquiry,  your  argument  beams  with 
new  light  and  overwhelming  power.  The  first  branch  you 
leave  untouched.  The  views  presented  by  you  really  per- 
tain to  the  most  practical  branch  of  the  subject;  and  they 
are  likely  to  produce  (in  my  judgment)  most  practical  fruits 
upon  the  great  Yankee  nation,  who  are  emphatically  a 
practical,  and  money-making,  and  money-saving  people.  1 
merely  throw  out  the  hint.  If  you  comprehend  my  full 
meaning,  I  think  you  may  use  it  to  great  effect ;  and  nothing 
would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  the  reflection  of  hav- 
ing furnished  you  with  a  hint,  which  might  be  worked  by 
you  into  an  argument  so  magnificent  and  statesman-like, 
and  which,  thus  treated,  might  result  in  fruits  so  grand  and 
so  just.  But  I  will  conclude  with  saying  your  speech,  in 
v:evv  of  its  novelty  and  its  probable  effects,  is  the  greatest 
"••id  grandest  of  your  life,  and  is  not  surpassed  by  any  in 
American  history.  I  am  not  extravagant — I  may  be  mis- 
<.aken. 

Affectionately,  LINTON. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  2,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  don't  think  you 

exactly  caught  the  idea,  which  I  intended  to  convey,  con- 
cerning a  certain  view  which  would  have  put  a  finishing 
stone  upon  your  speech.  The  natural  adaptation  of  the 
negro  race  to  slavery  is  the  least  part  of  it,  and,  indeed, 
hardly  a  part  of  it  at  all,  though  it  does  come  directly  in 
aid  of  it.  I  was  in  a  great  hurry  when  I  wrote  the  last  part 
of  my  critique  upon  your  speech,  and  did  not  succeed,  I 
imagine,  in  expressing  precisely  what  I  meant;  and  now  I 
have  just  got  a  call,  summoning  me  to  town,  and  I  must  go, 
and  must  finish  my  letter  before  I  go.  I  can  now  only  say, 
12* 


122  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

in  the  most  general  terms,  that  my  idea  was,  that,  as  a 
question  of  humanity,  it  is  obviously  indifferent  whether  the 
services  performed  for  us  by  slaves  be  performed  by  white 
men,  or  black  men,  so  far  as  the  good  of  the  greatest  num- 
ber is  concerned ;  the  only  question  is,  the  nature  of  the 
service,  and  the  necessary  number  engaged  in  it.  What  is 
done  by  our  negroes  must  be  done  by  somebody,  and  the 
only  real  question,  therefore,  in  point  of  humanity,  is,  whether 
anybody  else  could  perform  the  same  service  and  be  in  a 
better  condition.  If  not,  the  tears  of  humanity  are  shed 
in  vain  over  the  woes  of  the  negro,  and  ought  to  be  shed 
over  the  imperfections  of  nature,  which  require  men  to 
perform  such  services.  The  abolitionist  would  simply 
substitute  the  white  man  in  place  of  the  black.  He  would 
not  make  the  bed  easier,  but  only  give  it  a  different  occu- 
pant; and  humanity  is  concerned  only  at  what  befalls  man 
as  such,  and  not  for  the  fate  of  one  particular  man,  or  class 
of  men,  rather  than  another,  \vhen  the  fate  is  inevitable  to 
some  man,  or  some  class 

Fanaticism  is  blind,  and  never  stops  to  reason.  It  has  no 
capacity  to  reason.  "Menial  services  and  manual  labor" 
are,  for  the  most  part,  still  performed  at  the  South  by 
emancipated  slaves,  and  with  poorer  reward  than  in  ante- 
bellum days. 

Governor  Herschel  V.  Johnson  appointed  Mr.  Stephens 
counsel  to  represent  the  State  of  Georgia  in  the  contro- 
versy with  Alabama.  The  following  letter  relates  to  that 
subject: 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  7,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — To-day  I  got  your  letter  of  the  3d  in- 
stant, saying  that  Mr.  Phillips  had  inquired  of  you  about 
the  Answer  in  the  case  of  Alabama  vs.  Georgia.  I  sat 
down  and  drew  about  half  of  the  Answer,  but  was  inter- 
rupted, and  have  not  since  had  a  good  opportunity  to  finish 
it.  This  week,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  attend  to  other  mat- 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  123 

ters ;  but  after  that,  I  will  finish  it  and  get  the  signatures  of 
the  Governor,  the  Attorney-General,  and  of  O.  C.  Gibson, 
my  associate  counsel,  and  send  it  to  you  to  be  filed.  I 
shall  not  go  to  Washington  this  winter,  but  I  want  the  An- 
swer filed 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  8,  1855. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  got  your  letter  this  morning,  announc- 
ing the  painful  news  of  the  death  of  Lou  Toombs.  The 
announcement  did  not  greatly  surprise  me ;  for  it  was  not 
altogether  unexpected ;  and  yet  it  shocked  me.  It  fills  me 
with  a  feeling  too  near  akin  to  grief  to  be  called  by  any 
other  name.  I  almost  loved  her  as  a  sister.  She  was  so 
good,  so  intelligent,  so  artless,  so  innocently  gay  and  cheer- 
ful of  spirit,  that  it  was  impossible  to  know  her  well  with- 
out being  touched  with  a  tender  and  most  kindly  regard  for 
her.  She  had  the  blended  virtues  of  her  father  and  mother, 
and  added  a  chaplet  of  gracefulness  and  quietness,  all  her 
'  own.  Poor  Lou  !  poor  Lou  ! 

In  1855,  Mr.  Stephens  was  nominated,  by  the  Demo- 
cratic and  Anti-Know-Nothing  party,  for  Congress,  to  rep- 
resent the  Seventh  District  of  the  State.  His  repugnance 
to  again  entering  the  turbulent  field  of  politics  was  pro- 
nounced and  extreme.  Indeed,  he  never  had  relish  for  that 
sort  of  life.  There  was  a  spell  about  home  that  he  owned 
and  loved  ever;  and  now,  all  which  lends  to  it  most  of  at- 
traction and  charm — wife,  children,  affluence,  good  neigh- 
borhood, the  society  of  cherished  friends,  ' '  the  sweet  hours 
of  elegant  leisure  spent  in  the  library" — were  his  in  full 
fruition.  He,  however,  yielded  a  reluctant  consent  to  the 
wishes  of  the  party,  authoritatively  expressed ;  and  after  a 
heated  canvass — albeit  characterized  by  nothing  of  personal 
bitterness — his  competitor,  the  late  Nathaniel  Greene  Foster, 
was  elected  by  a  small  majority.  No  one  regretted  the  re- 
sult less  than  Mr.  Stephens.  He  did  not  rejoice  over  his 
defeat,  as  it  is  related  of  the  old  Grecian  patriot,  when 


124  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKJiTCH    OF 

no  shell  bore  his  name  for  a  seat  in  the  Amphictyonic 
Council ;  but  his  purely  personal  feelings  were  far  from 
being  ruffled,  or  his  hopes  in  the  least  disappointed.  The 
satisfaction  he  derived  from  the  re-election  of  Governor 
Johnson,  whom,  two  years  before,  he  had  opposed  on  other 
issues,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Know-Nothing  party  in 
Georgia,  was  ample  compensation  for  any  unrealized  dreams 
of  ambition  his  candidature  may  have  inspired. 

In  the  Presidential  race  of  1856,  Mr.  Stephens  supported, 
with  his  wonted  ardor,  the  Buchanan-Breckinridge  nomina- 
tion. He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Cincinnati  Convention  of 
that  year,  and  was  tendered  a  place  upon  the  Electoral 
ticket.  That  position  the  exacting  cares  of  a  large  and  labo- 
rious practice  compelled  him  to  decline.  He,  nevertheless, 
rendered  efficient  service  to  the  party  with  his  tongue  and 
his  pen. 

I  heard  him  relate,  with  great  glee,  an  anecdote  cor, 
nected  with  the  mission  to  Cincinnati,  which  I  have  nev^r 
seen  in  print.  The  Georgia  delegates  to  the  nominating 
convention  took  Washington  City  in  their  way,  and  re- 
mained a  day  or  so  at  the  Federal  City.  Congress  was  in 
session.  General  Toombs,  from  Georgia,  complimented 
the  delegation  with  a  dinner,  inviting  several  other  distin- 
guished Democrats.  Many  of  the  aspirants  for  nomination 
to  the  Presidency  were  present — invited  guests.  Late  in 
the  evening,  when  wit  and  wine  had  pretty  well  performed 
their  office,  and  the  company  were  about  to  disperse,  Col- 
onel James  Gardner,  the  Chairman  of  the  Georgia  Delega- 
tion, full  of  the  kindliest  feeling,  filled  his  glass,  and,  sur- 
rounded by  Cass,  Douglas,  Cobb,  Toombs,  Breckinridge, 
and  others,  who  ivonld  not  have  declined  a  nomination,  if 
tendered,  offered  as  a  toast:  "  Gentlemen,  may  you  all  live 
to  be  President  of  the  United  States!"  Douglas,  standing 
close  by  Cobb,  nudged  him  at  the  elbow  and  said:  "Well, 
Cobb,  here's  a  long  life  to  von!" 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  125 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.] 

SPARTA,  June  18,  1856. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  Know- 

Nothings  here  look  chap-fallen ;  but  they  intend  to  fight. 
We  are  to  have  a  meeting  Saturday  to  send  delegates  to 
the  Fourth-of-July  Convention  at  Milledgeville,  and  I  am 
to  make  them  a  speech.  A  speech  on  the  right  string,  at 
this  time — or  rather,  at  that  time — (for  all  the  candidates 

will  be  out  then)  may  do  much  good  in  this  county.    G 

told  me  that  M and  J had  declared  for  Buchanan. 

I  don't  believe  it;  but  he  said  so.  The  nomination  is  re- 
ceived well  by  our  friends  everywhere,  so  far  as  I  know,  or 
have  heard.  Jim  Jones  is  raving  like  a  madman.  In  his 
paper,  which  I  got  this  morning,  he  invites  all  lovers  of  the 
country  to  avert  the  disgrace  of  electing  Buchanan  by 
mounting  the  "broad  platform  of  Fillmore" — a  platform 
consisting  of  the  "leading  principles"  of  another  platform, 
(or  the  same,)  which  Jones,  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  pro- 
nounced unfit  for  a  Southern  latitude.  "Quern  Dcus  i'ult 
perdcre,"  etc.,  is  a  maxim  which  gives  me  great  comfort 
under  present  circumstances.  I  am  glad  that  Stringfellow 
brings  such  good  tidings  from  Kansas.  The  indications  in- 
spire me  with  the  hope  that  we  shall  make  a  complete  rout 
of  the  enemy 

The  year  1857  was  the  saddest  in  the  life  of  Air.  Stephens. 
In  January,  his  wife  died.  The  event,  for  a  time,  quite 
unmanned  him :  he  was  prostrated  by  the  blow.  The 
insatiate  archer's  arrow  penetrated  his  very  soul,  and  pro- 
duced an  anguish — an  agony  of  grief — such  as  the  tenderest 
hearts  only  can  feel,  and  the  stoutest  withstand.  For  years 
succeeding,  his  letters  are  laden  with  expressions  of  sorrow 
for  his  loss — deep,  boding,  eloquent — and  with  testimonials 
of  her  worth,  and  tributes  to  her  memory,  of  surpassing 
tenderness  and  beauty.  The  precincts  of  private  grief  are 
too  sacred  to  be  invaded  by  stranger-step.  But  this  sketch 
would  fail  to  present  a  faithful  portraiture  of  Linton  Ste- 
phens, and  do  injustice  to  his  memory,  if  the  evidences  of 


126  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

his  devotion  to  her — recorded  in  an  epistolary  correspond- 
ence, at  once  the  saddest  and  most  beautiful  I  ever  read — 
were  altogether  omitted.  He  exemplified,  in  his  domestic 
life,  all  the  virtues  that  make  Howe  sweet  and  holy. 

[  From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  March  14,  1857. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  day  is  fast  waning  towards  evening 
twilight.  Since  you  left,  I  have  written  eighteen  letters — 
this  is  the  nineteenth — my  fingers  are  tired,  but  I  could  not 
close  my  labors  without  saying  a  word  to  you.  You  are 
before  this  time  at  home,  I  suppose — safely  there,  I  trust. 
Long  did  I  watch  the  carriage  to-day  as  it  slowly  bore  you 
away.  I  thought  of  the  muddy  roads  and  chill  air  you 
had  to  encounter,  and  then  the  sad  scenes  you  would  meet 
at  your  journey's  end.  With  a  fervent  prayer  that  you 
might  be  sustained  by  that  Power  above,  that  rules  and 
shapes  our  destinies,  and  that  with  resignation  and  forti- 
tude you  would  bear  up  against  whatever  sorrows  or  griefs 
may  ever  betide  you,  I  watched  your  progress.  When  no 
longer  you  were  in  sight,  still  my  heart's  yearnings  pur- 
sued you,  and  though  I  betook  myself  to  the  duties  of  life, 
and  for  a  time  had  my  mind  absorbed  in  business,  in  at- 
tending to  the  demands  and  wishes  of  men  of  various  kinds, 
scattered  all  over  the  country;  yet,  after  it  is  all  over,  my 
mind  is  with  you.  You,  above  anything  else  or  anybody 
else,  are  the  object  of  my  solicitude,  anxiety  and  love.  I 
feel  for  you  in  your  grief — I  mourn  with  you  in  your  sor- 
row— I  weep  with  you  in  your  distress.  I  would  fain  soothe 
your  pangs  if  I  could;  but,  after  all,  human  consolation  can 
avail  nothing.  Look  to  a  Power  higher  and  abler.  But  do 
not  despair— do  not  let  your  strength  fail  you.  Bear  with 
fortitude  and  resignation  whatever  afflictions  may  befall 
you.  Don't  indulge  in  despondent  feelings;  rise  early — 
take  bodily  exercise;  devote  your  mind  to  some  engaging 
subject;  don't  be  much  alone;  don't  brood  over  the  sub- 
ject of  your  grief;  above  all,  don't  let  your  mind  be  ab- 
sorbed in  thought  after  you  retire  at  night;  seek  repose  and 
sleep.  Exercise  will  conduce  to  this.  Be  as  cheerful  as  you 
can;  cultivate  the  feelintr;  read  such  books  and  seek  such 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  127 

company  as  will  conduce  to  it.      Be  master  of  your  pas- 
sions, appetites   and   weaknesses,  whatever   they   may  be, 
and  may  God  bless  and  sustain  you,  now  and  forever. 
Yours,  affectionately, 

A.  H.  STEPHENS. 

He  was  again  nominated  this  year  for  Congress.  The 
American  party  was  known  to  have  a  decided  majority  in 
the  district ;  but  it  \vas  believed  that  a  vigorous  canvass  on 
his  part,  and  his  great  personal  popularity,  would  overcome 
it.  The  Hon.  Joshua  Hill  was  the  nominee  of  the  Ameri- 
can party — undoubtedly  their  strongest  man.  The  canvass 
promised  to  be  a  spirited  one — for,  the  opposing  candidates 
were  the  idols  of  their  parties,  and  deservedly  so — but  it 
had  scarcely  opened  before  Mr.  Stephens  met  with  an  in- 
jury by  being  thrown  from  a  stage-coach — returning  from  the 
burial  of  his  sister,  Catharine — which  so  far  disabled  him 
that  he  could  not  meet  his  competitor  upon  the  hustings. 
His  right  knee  received  a  hurt  from  which  he  never  en- 
tirely recovered.  Mr.  Hill  was  elected  by  a  small  majority. 

Mr.  Stephens  attended  the  Democratic  Gubernatorial 
Convention  which  first  nominated  Governor  Joseph  E. 
Brown  for  the  office  which  he  filled  for  nearly  eight  years. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  June  29,  1857. 
DEAR   BROTHER —  1  intend  going 

o  o 

over  to  see  you  and  stay  with  you  a  day  or  two  ;  but  I  write, 
lest  something  should  prevent  me.  I  was  well  pleased  with 
the  action  of  the  convention.  The  Kansas  part  of  the  plat- 
form was  drawn  by  me Brown  is  a  man 

that  I  know  to  have  decided  ability;  as  a  debater,  he  is  far 
superior  to  any  of  those  who  were  before  the  convention. 
Indeed,  without  being  an  orator,  he  is  a  very  effective 
stump-speaker.  He  is  quick,  clear-headed,  and  a  close 
reasoner,  with  considerable  turn  for  sharp,  witty  remark. 
He  was  a  firm  Southern-rights  man,  and  one  of  the  most 
prudent  among  them.  Besides  all  this,  he  is  a  man  of  fine 


128  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

personal  character,  and  self-made.  He  was  poor,  but  bor- 
rowed money  and  graduated  at  Yale  College.  He  stands 
high  in  the  up-country,  and  deserves  it.  I  served  in  the 
Legislature  with  him  in  the  sessions  of  1849  and  1850.  The 
man,  and  the  section  from  which  he  comes,  are  also  an  ex- 
cellent lick  for  Toombs.  I  have  written  to  Mr.  Cobb  to- 
day, urging  him  to  have  Walker  recalled.  I  don't  know, 
nor  care  much,  (as  far  as  I  am  concerned)  what  they  do. 
Colonel  Foster  told,  at  a  party-meeting  in  Madison  the  other 
day,  (so  Carlos  writes)  that  they  need  not  nominate  him, 
unless  they  wanted  him  to  take  a  beating.  If  they  con- 
cluded that  they  needed  a  candidate  for  a  beating,  he  would 
not  run  off  for  fear  of  defeat,  etc. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  July  4,  1857. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  got  a  letter  this 

morning  from  Nisbet,  of  the  Federal  Union,  saying  that  the 
Democratic  party  will  not  go  as  far,  in  relation  to  Walker 
and  Kansas,  as  the  convention  went.  He  says  they  will 
not  make  \Valker's  removal  a  sine  qua  non ;  and  that  he  has 
received  numerous  letters  from  friends  requesting  him  to 
write  to  me,  and  request  me  to  withhold  my  letter  of  ac- 
ceptance for  the  present.  This  is  exactly  the  substance  of 
the  letter — introduced  and  closed  with  great  assurances  of 
friendship,  etc.  I  don't  know  what  I  shall  do  yet.  I  in- 
tend, however,  to  wait  and  see  what  the  Know-Nothing 
concern  may  do  next  week,  and  then  decide  on  my  course. 
I  am  at  times  disposed  to  run  anyhow,  on  my  own  plat- 
form, with  defiance  to  everybody  who  is  against  it,  and  call- 
ing upon  all  men,  of  all  parties,  to  back  me  in  defense  of 
our  own  section.  But  the  prevailing  disposition  with  me 
is  to  set  forth  my  opinions  on  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
and  my  reasons  for  them,  and  then  leave  the  turf,  and  all 
the  scramblers  for  office,  and  part}'  slaves,  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  This  is  what  I  think  1  shall  do.  I  had  begun 
to  feel  some  interest  in  the  subject,  and  had  begun  to  oc- 
cupy myself  with  it  as  a  drrcrtiscinent ;  but  now  I  don't 
care  anything  about  it 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1 2g 

|  From  I,.  S.  to  A.  IJ.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  10,  1857. 

DKAR  BROTHER— I  am  sorry 

to  hear  that  Douglas  is  against  the  Kansas  Constitution.  I 
don't  suppose  his  objection  can  be  that  of  Forney — that 
the  whole  Constitution  is  not  submitted — for  he  himself,  in 
his  Springfield  speech,  held  that  no  submission  at  all  was 
necessary.  If  the  convention  had  power  to  complete  their 
work  without  submitting  it  at  all,  or  to  submit  it  if  they 
chose,  assuredly  they  might  finish  one  part  themselves,  and 
submit  another,  covering  the  main  topic  of  difference.  1 
scarcely  suppose  he  can  object  to  the  class  of  voters;  for 
certainly  the  convention  had  the  power  to  prescribe  them, 
and  in  exercising  it,  they  have  not  exhibited  partiality  by 
excluding  anybody.  Xor  can  there  be  any  valid  objection 
to  the  test-oath,  requiring  each  voter,  if  challenged,  to  swear 
to  support  the  Constitution  as  adopted ;  for  any  one,  who 
would  refuse  to  take  such  an  oath,  would  be  an  enemy  to 
government  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term.  Such  a  man 
could  intend  to  submit  to  government,  only  in  the  event 
of  government  going  his  own  way — that  is,  only  provided 
he  could  govern  liimsclf  and  other  people,  too.  Such  a  man 
is  hostile  to  the  compact  on  which  all  government  rests;  he 
is  an  outlaw,  and  ought  to  be  excluded  from  all  participa- 
tion in  the  general  action.  He  should  not  be  allowed  the 
chance  of  getting  his  own  way  over  other  people,  while  he 
stands  with  the  defiant  declaration  that  he  will  not  allow 
other  people  to  have  their  way  over  him.  Is  his  objection 
founded  on  the  provision  that  the  present  laws  shall  remain 
of  force  until  repealed  by  the  Legislature  under  the  new 
Constitution  ?  They  surely  had  the  legal  power  to  make 
that  provision ;  for,  out  of  their  sovereign  power  to  estab- 
lish a  Constitution,  they  might  have  instituted  a  new  gov- 
ernment, entirely  cutting  off  the  existing  one,  and  enacting 
what  laws  they  pleased.  To  be  sure,  there  is  a  difference,  in 
this  respect,  between  a  State  convention  and  a  Territorial 
convention;  and,  on  this  difference,  I  can  well  imagine  that 
difference  of  views  might  arise ;  but  if  you  do  not  already 
see  the  solution,  I  think  I  can  give  it  so  clearly  that  there 
can  be  no  answer  to  it;  but,  lest  the  difference  may  not 
have  presented  itself  to  you,  let  me  first  state  it,  and  then 

13* 


1.}O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKI-ITCH    Of 

show  that  the  difference  cannot  legitimately  affect  the  mat- 
ter in  hand — thq,t  is,  the  legal  power  of  the  Kansas  Con- 
vention to  do  precisely  what  they  did. 

A  State  convention  (assuming  always  that  it  is  assem- 
bled in  pursuance  of  the  existing  Constitution,  so  as  to  avoid 
revolution)  would  be  sovereign,  not  only  in  degree,  but  in 
time  also;  for  they  might  immediately  inaugurate  the  new 
state  of  things  and  wipe  out  the  old — they  could  th'ssok't' nn 
I'.visting  Legislature,  A  Territorial  convention,  on  the  con 
trary,  is  sovereign  in  degree  only,  and  not  in  time.  Per- 
haps it  is  a  better  phrase  to  say,  that  the  power  of  the  State 
convention  would  be  complete  without  awaiting  action  by 
anybody  else ;  while  the  power  of  the  Territorial  conven- 
tion is  only  inchoate,  and  needs  the  admission  of  the  new 
State,  by  Congress,  to  set  it  in  motion.  The  difference 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  departure  of  a  ship  out  of  port : 
In  one  case,  the  captain  can  sail  where  he  pleases;  in  an- 
other case,  he  must  await  permission  of  some  one  else;  but 
in  both  cases,  suppose  him  to  have  power  to  take  aboard 
what  freight  he  pleases:  then  my  idea  is  illustrated.  The 
State  convention  can  start  when  they  please,  and  carry  what: 
they  please.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Territorial  convention 
can  start  only  when  Congress  speaks  the  fiat;  but,  then, 
their  power  is  as  great  as  that  of  the  State  convention  over 
the  freight.  The  Constitution,  formed  by  a  Territorial  con- 
vention, is  like  Adam  was  when  his  body  was  formed — com 
plete,  but  still  waiting  for  the  breath  of  life.  It  can  have 
no  operation  until  the  new  State  is  admitted.  How,  then, 
it  ma}-  be  asked,  (and  1  say  it  may  be  asked,  because  the 
question  occurred  to  my  own  mind,)  can  the  Kansas  Con- 
vention enact  that  existing  laws  shall  continue  in  force  until 
repealed  by  a  Legislature  under  the  new  Constitution? 
How  can  the}'  supersede  the  existing  Legislature,  or  put 
restraints  upon  its  power,  before  their  own  power  has  had 
vitality  put  into  it?  This  question  may  have  given  to 
other  minds,  as  it  did,  at  first  presentation,  give  me,  some 
difficulty.  The  Constitution  which  they  have  formed  (if 
our  papers  have  given  a  correct  synopsis  of  it)  seems,  on  its 
face,  to  attempt  to  hamper  the  present  Legislature  by  an- 
nulling their  authority  to  alter,  amend  or  repeal  existing 
laws.  The  language  of  the  second  section  is:  "All  laws 
now  of  force  in  the  Territorv  of  Kansas,  which  are  not  re 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  131 

pugnant  to  this  Constitution,  shall  continue  and  be  of  force 
until  altered,  amended  or  repealed  by  a  Legislature  assem- 
bled by  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution."  And  then  the 
seventeenth  section  declares:  "This  Constitution  shall  take 
effect,  and  be  in  force,  from  and  after  its  ratification  by  the 
people,  as  hereinbefore  provided."  Now,  in  my  judgment, 
this  will  not  interfere,  nor  was  it  intended  to  interfere,  (but 
whether  so  intended  or  not,  in  point  of  fact,  cannot  legally 
interfere.)  with  the  intermediate  powers  of  the  existing 
Legislature.  Although  it  is  declared  that  the  Constitution 
shall  take  effect,  and  be  in  full  force,  from  the  time  of  its 
ratification,  yet  this,  by  legal  intendment,  must  be  applied 
to  the  great,  and  indeed  only  end  in  fvVrr — the  formation  of 
a  Constitution  to  be  presented  to  Congress,  and  to  govern  the 
country  after  the  State  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  whole  work  of  the  convention  (and  of  the  people 
jointly,  it  being  partly  submitted  for  their  ratification)  was, 
if  you  please,  to  build  the  ship  and  rig  her  off,  furnished  for 
sailing,  and  then  turn  her  over  to  Congress,  who  must 
launch  her;  and  they  have  simply  declared  that  their  work 
shall  not  be  complete — that  the  ship  shall  not  be  pro- 
nounced seaworthy  and  turned  over  to  Congress — //;////  the 
people  shall  put  on  the  finishing  rope  by  ratifying,  or  reject- 
ing, the  slavery  clause.  After  she  is  launched,  then  she 
passes  out,  free  from  all  action  by  Congress,  and  rigged  and 
freighted  just  as  she  was  offered  at  the  wharf.  Then,  and 
not  until  then,  will  the  laws  existing  in  Kansas,  when  the 
convention  adjourned,  begin  to  be  in  force,  (so  far  as  any  val- 
idity is  imparted  by  the  Constitution  to  them,)  and  continue 
to  be  in  force  until  repealed  by  the  State  Legislature.  In 
other  words,  these  second  and  seventeenth  sections  are  only 
a  declaration  of  the  status  on  which  the  new  State  will  start. 
Nor  could  the  convention  have  meant  anything  else,  be- 
cause the  Constitution  expressly  provides  the  manner  of  its 
own  presentation  to  Congress,  and,  therefore,  could  not 
have  intended  that  it  should  go  into  action,  as  a  government, 
before  Congress  should  have  admitted  the  new  State.  Xor 
would  any  unfair  consequences  result  to  the  anti-slavery 
men  there,  if  the  people  should  reject  slavery  from  the 
present  laws  protecting  slave  property,  being  included  as  a 
part  of  the  new  statutes;  for  they  would  not  be  so  included, 
except  so  far  as  to  protect  existing  slave  property ;  because. 


132  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

if  the  people  reject  slavery,  then  would  all  laws  protecting 
prospective  slavery  be  repugnant  to  the  Constitution,  and 
only  those  are  to  be  "continued  in  force"  which  are  not 
repugnant  to  the  Constitution.  Such  would  be  repugnant, 
because  the  Constitution  expressly  declares,  that  if  there 
shall  be  a  majority  of  votes  for  the  Constitution,  without 
slavery,  then  shall  the  pro-slavery  clause  be  stricken  out, 
and  it  is  declared  that  slavery  shall  not  exist ;  and  let  me 
further  remark,  what  I  was  about  to  omit,  that,  in  the  other 
event,  of  slavery  be-ing  ratified  by  the  people,  then  a  status 
of  laws  protecting  slave  property  would  be  of  the  utmost 
consequence  to  slave-holders;  for,  otherwise,  this  present 
Black  Republican  Legislature  might,  by  repealing  all  such 
existing  laws,  start  the  new  State  off  with  slave  property  un- 
protected, allliough  the  people  should  have  solemnly  de- 
cided in  favor  of  slavery:  so  that  this  provision  is  a  /<?//- one 
and  an  important  one  to  the  pro-slavery  men,  and  just  such 
as  cannot  possibly  impose  any  unfair  disadvantage  upon  the 
other  side.  Indeed,  the  absence  of  it  would  be  absolutely 
unfair  to  our  side.  I  am  afraid  I  have  wearied  you,  and  I 
will  quit.  It  may  be  that  1  have  only  been  fighting  men  of 
straw ;  but,  at  any  rate,  this  sketch  will  serve  to  give  you 
my  general  analysis  of  the  Kansas  Constitution,  and  my  no- 
tions of  its  defense.  I  would  like  for  you  to  write  me  how 
far  you  agree  with  me,  and  also  whether  or  not  I  have 
struck  any  of  the  points  of  difficult}";  and  yet,  there  is  one 
other  view  I  must  present  in  relation  to  the  matter  of  fair- 
ness: The  convention  was  fairly  elected,  and  was  largely 
pro-slavery,  and  was  under  no  legal  obligation  to  submit 
their  work  to  the  people.  \Ye  had  won  tlif  trick,  and  we 
are  entitled  to  it.  But,  again,  when  we  had  it  in  our  hands, 
and  might  have  kept  it  simply  by  holding  on,  isn't  it  hard 
that  we  should  be  charged  with  unfairness,  when  we  volun- 
tarily yielded  it  up,  and  gave  our  opponents  another  chance 
at  it?  But  enough. 

I  From  L.  S.  tu  A.  II.  S.  ] 

Sl'AKTA,  December  13,  1857. 

DEAR  BROTH KK — I  am  just  about  to  start  to  Milledgeville. 
Thomas  \V.  Thomas  is.  here,  and  is  going  with  me.  He 
came  over  from  there,  clay  before  yesterday,  on  his  way  to 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  133 

Washington  City.  The  Governor  appointed  him  and  Ward 
as  counsel  in  the  case  of  Alabama  vs.  Georgia.  Brown  was 
served  with  process  lately ;  and  as  Johnson  had  been  served 
with  a  copy  of  the  bill  two  years  ago,  they  all  concluded 
then,  that  this  last  was  a  new  case ;  but  they  were  not  sat- 
isfied;  so  Thomas  came  by  to  see  me.  W'hen  I  explained 
it,  he  decided  to  go  back.  He  says  he  will  not  retain  his 
appointment,  because  it  was  made  under  a  mistake.  Oba- 
diah  Gibson  was  appointed  associate  counsel  with  me,  by 
Governor  Johnson,  on  the  3Oth  of  October  last 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  29,  1857. 

DEAR  BROTHER — It  is  night  again,  and  again  I  am  about 
to  close  a  night  of  work  with  a  letter  to  you — not  that  I 
have  anything  of  consequence  to  say,  but  merely  because, 
while  I  am  at  it,  it  comes  easier.      The  vis  inertia  is  a  pre- 
vailing law  of  nature,  controlling  matter  and  mind.      It  is  a 
powerful  law  with  me.      I  can  continue,  when  tired,  more 
easily  than  I  can  commence,  when  dull  or  indisposed.      Re- 
sistance to  change  seems  to  be  stamped  upon  all  things, 
animate  and   inanimate  ;    and   yet,  alas !    the  great  tide  of 
change  sweeps  all  things,  good  and  bad,  beautiful  and  loath- 
some, lovely  and  horrible,  along  its  own  ceaseless  and  re- 
sistless course.      All  things  instinctively  oppose  it ;  yet  all 
things  are  inevitably  its  victims.      It  is  but  the  struggling 
of  the  fly  in  the  spider's  web,  or  the  fluttering  of  the  poor 
bird  under  the  serpent's  charm.      It  is  a  hard  thing  to  move 
and  a  hard  thing  to  stop ;  and  yet  it  is  true,  that  we  are 
forever  moving  and  eternally  stopping.      What  wonder,  then, 
that,  in  the  conflict,  there  should  be  a  very  severing  of  the 
joints  and  the' marrow!     The  universe  is  but  a  vast  mass  of 
contending  elements  in  travail.      What  wonder,  then,  that 
the  births  should  be  woe  !  woe  !   woe  !  or,  it  is  true  that  light 
was  indeed  stricken  out  of  the  darkness  of  chaos?     When 
does  it  shine  but  to  make  visible  the  torture  and  misery 
which  before  lay  unseen  and  unfclt  in  the  repose  of  dark 
nonentity?     Who  is  the  great  Intelligence,  or  what  the  un- 
knowing Cause  that  ever,  eternally  drives  the  crushing  and 
relentless  wheels  of  Necessity?     But  I  had  no  idea  of  run- 
ning into  such  an  unavailing  train ;  such  thoughts  were  not 
in  my  mind  when  I  commenced  to  write  to  you 


134  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Mr.  Stephens,  from  early  manhood,  was  often  applied 
to,  by  almost  all  classes  of  people,  in  emergency,  for  pe- 
cuniary aid.  Hardly  any  one  of  his  acquaintance,  needing 
the  benefaction,  felt  delicacy  or  sho\ved  hesitancy  in  ap- 
proaching hint.  No  worthy  applicant  was  ever  turned  away 
empty,  if  compliance  were  a  possibility;  and  while  he  dis- 
pensed man}-  charities,  whereof  it  was  impossible  the  world 
could  be  ignorant,  he  also  bestowed  uncounted  thousands, 
which  will  not  be  known  until  the  common  Father  shall 
say:  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least, 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  3,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— For  the  want  of 

something  else  to  do,  I   will   tell  you  of  some  applications 

which  T   have  lately  had   for    money   in   charity.      

(whom  I  took  to  be  a  son  of ,  and  who  wrote  me  a 

very  good  letter)  asked  me  to  send  him  to  school  this  year. 
I  agreed  to  do  so,  and  am  to  sec  his  board  and  tuition  paid 

at  the  end  of  the  year.      ,  (a  grandson  of  old ,) 

asked  of  me  the  same  favor,  and  J  granted  that,  too,  after 
passing  several  letters — and,  at  last,  with  considerable  re- 
luctance. I  did  not  like  the  way  he  wrote,  and  I  gave  him 
some  very  plain  talk.  His  last  letter  was  in  much  better 
taste;  but  1  was  afraid  the  improvement  arose  from  a  desire 
to  succeed  with  his  application,  rather  than  any  real  amend 

mcnt   of  his    views.      But    I    hope    for   the   best.      

( j  wrote  me,  a  few  days  ago,  that  lie  must  have  eighty 

dollars  soon,  and  called  on  me  to  furnish  it.  I  simply  re- 
plied that  it  was  not  convenient  for  me  to  do  so.  About 

the  same  time,  sent  me  a  letter,  asking  the  loan  of 

twenty-five  dollars  for  three  months,  saying  he  was  going 
to  clerk  for  somebody  in  —  — ,  and  had  "no  close,"  and 
promising,  faithfully,  to  pay  me  at  end  of  three  months. 
He  concluded  with  a  peroration  that  would  have  done  honor 
to  a  finished  rhetorician  :  "/  am  poor,  but  honest!"  My 
reply  to  him  was,  that  he  must  call  on  for  my  an- 
swer, and  at  the  same  time  I  wrote  to telling  him 


JUDGK    LINTON    STEPHENS.  J35 

what had  written  to  me,  and  requesting  him  to  let 

me  know  if  it  was  true  that was  going  into  a  clerk- 
ing business,  etc.  I  authorized  him,  if  it  was  true,  to  buy- 
clothes  for  him  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  dollars,  and 
that  I  would  pay  for  them  the  first  time  I  might  go  to 

Crawfordville.      I  explained  to  him  that  I  doubted 's 

story,  and  suspected  it  might  be  a  mere  trick  to  "make  a 

rise,"  and  gave  him   the  history  of  how fooled  you 

about  the  horse.  I  reckon  it  would  have  been  better  if  I 
had  merely  refused  the  application,  as  I  have  just  refused 
's;  but  I  really  desired  to  help  him,  if  it  would  in- 
deed be  true  help ;  and  so  I  took  the  risk  of  offending 

.      1  tried,  however,  to  put  it  as  kindly  as  possible. 

1  have  heard  nothing  from  him,  though  sufficient  time  has 
elapsed  for  him  to  have  written.  Another  application  was 

from ,  of ,  for  me  to  give  her   one   hundred 

dollars,  which  she  desired  to  use  in  restoring  her  health  (if 
possible)  by  a  trip  to  Florida.  She  said  she  had  consump- 
tion. I  declined  to  do  so  in  a  short  answer  expressed  in  as 
civil  terms  as  1  could  command.  Besides  these,  there  have 
been  divers  others  in  the  county  here  at  home.  1  have  re 
fused  most  of  them,  for  they  were  simply  bold  cases  to  at- 
tempt to  sponge  and  rob.  By  the  way,  told  me 

that had  made  a  similar  application  to  him,  (though 

not  for  any  specific  amount,)  and  that  he  sent  her  fifty 
dollars 

[  h'n.m  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  13,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — January  18. 

This  letter  \ras  commenced  at  the  date  it  bears,  but  was  cut 
short  at  the  time  by  an  interruption  of  some  of  the  servants, 
and  has  since  lain  as  you  find  it.  I  have  received  your 

letter  about  young ,  and  1  am  truly  sorry  I  did  not 

get  it  sooner.  I  suppose  he  is  at  school  before  this  time. 
1  think  to  educate  such  a  fellow  is  only  to  augment  the 
power  of  a  rascal — a  bad  deed  instead  of  a  good  one.  1 

have  never  yet  heard  farther  from nor  from  . 

It  was  clearly  a  trick  of  . 

1  am  glad  to  see  the  stand  you  and  Mr.  Toombs  have 
taken  on  the  Central- American  question;  and  I  am  glad  to 


136  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

see  that  Douglas  is  with  you.  I  noticed  the  few  words  be- 
tween you  and  the  man  who  laughed  at  me  for  eating 
ground-peas,  about  instructions  to  his  committee.  It  was 
my  turn  to  Jaugh  when  I  saw  it;  but  indeed  I  did  not  use 
my  just  privilege,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  silent  smile.  I 
felt  sorry  for  him.  He  is  manifestly  affected  with  that  in- 
firmity which  the  Irishman  said  was  worse  than  being  a 
knave — that  is,  being  a  fool — because,  as  Paddy  had  it,  he 
could  quit  being  a  knave,  but  could  not  quit  being  a  fool. 
What  effect  do  you  think  your  course  on  the  Central- 
American  question  will  have  on  the  administration  in 
regard  to  the  Kansas  question?  /  think  it  will  scare 
them,  and  tend,  at  least,  to  make  them  stand  up.  If  they 
have  got  any  sense  at  all,  (?)  they  must  see  that  they  are  in 
danger  of  losing  the  whole  South,  and  that  they  can't  af- 
ford any  shuffling  on  the  Kansas  question.  I  discover,  from 
the  indications  in  the  Senate,  that  the  Southern  Know- 
Xothings  intend  to  take  sides  with  the  administration  on 
the  Central-American  question.  Is  it  not  so?  What  did 
fosh  Hill  mean  by  voting  for  Henry  Winter  Davis  for 

Speaker? Dick  Johnston  has  gone 

to  Athens.  I  am  almost  literally  alone  in  the  world.  But 
sometimes  I  get  along  pretty  well.  The  return  of  good 
weather  has  helped  me.  1  don't  think  I  shall  go  to  Wash- 
ington this  winter,  but  I  do  \\v\.  yet  so  decide  positively.  I 
should  like  very  much  to  be  with  you,  but  I  should  be  very 
uneasy  about  the  children.  Little  Emm  has  been  sick, 
but  is  now  about  well  again.  She  is  very  fond  of  me,  and 
so  indeed  are  Becky  and  Claude.  They  are  about  me  nearly 
all  the  time  when  I  am  at  the  house.  Last  night,  just  at 
twelve  o'clock,  Becky  got  out  of  her  bed  in  the  nursery  (the 
folding,  or  rather  drawing  doors  being  open)  and  came  to 
me  at  the  fire  in  my  room  where  I  was  reading,  and  said 
she  wanted  me  to  go  to  bed.  Everybody  else,  children 
and  servants,  were  in  profound  slumber.  I  asked  her  what 
made  her  wake?  She  said  because  she  wanted  me  to  go  to 
bed.  I  told  her  I  would  put  her  to  bed,  but  she  said  she 
wanted  me  to  go,  and  she  would  go  with  me.  So  I  quit 
my  reading  and  took  her  to  bed  with  me.  I  thought  it 
was  a  singular  thing  in  her.  She  did  not  seem  to  be  scared, 
or  at  all  seeking  protection  from  her  fears,  but  it  was  just 
simply  a  freak  that  she  wanted  to  see  me  go  to  bed,  and  for 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  137 

her  offer  to  sleep  with  me  was  an  inducement.  That  was  the 
spirit  of  the  whole  action.  But  I  really  fear  that  I  weary 
you  with  such  details  of  simple,  childish  things.  I  am  free 
to  own  that  such,  in  anybody  else's  children,  would  be  of 
little  interest  to  me.  But  these  little  passages  with  my 
little  ones  and  me  are  really  the  greatest  comforts  I  have, 
and  sometimes  I  grow  tedious  on  them,  no  doubt.  But  it 
does  me  a  little  good  to  write  them,  and  you  can  skip  them, 

and  I  will  never  inquire  about  it,  nor  care  about  it 

Mr.  Thomas  staid  with  me  the  greater  part  of  last  week, 
and  is  coming  back  to-morrow  to  stay  the  remainder  of  this 
week.  He  went  home  yesterday  evening  with  a  spell  of 
the  headache  on  him ;  but  Bill  was  in  town  to-day  and  told 
me  he  had  got  over  it.  He  was  here  professedly  on  busi- 
ness, and  he  really  had  business,  but  did  little  of  it,  and  is 
coming  back.  I  thought  he  wanted  company.  He  is  just 
the  man  to  consider  it  a  weakness  to  feel  such  a  want,  or 
rather  to  allow  the  feeling  to  take  him  away  from  business. 
For  my  own  part,  I  think  the  true  philosophy  is,  that  the 
best  business  is  to  be  happy,  so  far  as  that  is  attainable  in 
life,  consistently  with  innocence,  and  therefore  with  happi- 
ness hereafter But  I  have  no  idea  of  going  oft 

into  an  account  of  my  feelings  or  griefs,  or  its  variations. 
At  this  time,  at  least,  1  prefer  to  write  in  a  pleasant  vein, 
if  I  can  do  it,  and  I  will  not  allow  myself  to-night  to  call 
upon  you  for  sympathy,  which  grieves  you,  and  can  scarce 
assuage  a  pang  for  me.  So  again,  good  .night,  and  may  you 
be  as  happy  as  possible. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II .  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  9,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  read  Mr. 

Toombs'  speech  to-day,  on  the  message  of  the  President 
accompanying  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  It  is  very 
powerful.  I  am  getting  sick  and  tired  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  subject  of  slavery  is  treated  by  Northern  men — 
Democrats  and  all.  If  Kansas  is  not  admitted — or  rather,  if 
she  is  refused  admission — -I  am  for  dissolution.  I  would  not 
acknowledge  allegiance  to  a  government  which  sets  upon 
14* 


138  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

me  and  my  section  a  brand  of  sin,  and  infamy,  and  degra- 
dation. Douglas,  and  h's  Black  Republican  backers,  may 
smile,  and  split  hairs,  and  swear  that  they  arc  honest  until 
they  turn  black  in  the  face,  and  I  shall  not  believe  one  word 
of  it.  If  Kansas  is  rejected,  it  will  be  simply  and  purely 
because  she  is.  considered  unfit  to  keep  company  with  the 
"Holy  Willies  "of  the  canting,  Pharisaical  North;  and 
u  hen  that  test  of  association  is  made,  I  am  for  leaving  the 
company  that  makes  it.  The  bonds  of  my  attachment  to 
the  Union  are  powerfully  loosened,  and  if  Kansas  is  rejected, 
they  will  be  broken.  We  scarcely  know  the  Union  now, 
except  through  its  burthens,  and  I  am  not  willing  to  pocket 
its  insults.  They  should  not  evade  the  issue  by  a  pretext. 
The  true  issue  is,  and  Congress  ought  to  be  held  to  it,  and 
it  ought  to  be  so  proclaimed  to  them  with  a  united  defiance, 
whether  a  State  with  slavery  is  fit  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Union.  If  it  be  decided  against  us.  honor  leaves  but  one 
course,  and  that  is,  for  all  the  slave  States  to  walk  out  of 
the  Union,  and  fling  their  defiance  behind  them  ;  and  if  no 
other  will,  I  hope  Georgia  will  do  it,  "solitary  and  alone." 
I  do  trust  that,  at  the  right  time,  you  will  give  them  fire 
and  thunder.  Read  the  Georgia  platform  to  them  ;  and 
tell  them  it  shall  not  be  evaded  by  a  miserable  pretext.  Let 
the  hunters  of  the  Presidency  know  that  there  will  be  no 
Presidency  left  to  be  hunted  for.  I  say,  if  the  South  sub- 
mits to  the  rejection  of  Kansas,  she  is  a  craven,  and  deserves 
her  fate.  She  is  ready  for  a  master,  and  if  she  could  be 
left  the  poor  privilege  of  choosing  one,  I  should  prefer  to 
see  her  take  one,  rather  than  fifteen  millions  of  a  lawless  mob. 
A  pure  Democracy,  in  a  small  State  of  homogeneous  in- 
terests, is  tolerable,  but  in  a  State  divided  into  two  perma- 
nent antagonisms,  with  a  large  numerical  majority  on  one 
side,  is  the  most  despotic  of  all  governments.  A  mob, 
when  unrestrained  by  interest,  is  terrific  in  its  utter  irrc 
sponsibilty.  If  Kansas  is  rejected,  our  government  be- 
comes a  pure  Democracy;  the  only  law  is  that  of  superior 
numbers;  the  only  power  is  that  of  an  irresponsible  mob, 
and  that  mob  hostile  to  us.  We  have  got  to  fight  it,  or 
deter  it,  or  succumb  to  it.  I  am  for  the  first,  whenever  it 
is  necessary,  for  the  second  if  it  can  avail,  but  for  the  last, 
ncrer,  never  I 


JUDGE    I.1NTON    STEPHENS.  139 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  11,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  write  to-night  with  the  single  design 
to  mark  the  day  as  it  passes ;  to  let  you  know  that  I  am 
not  unmindful  of  your  having  this  day  arrived  at  one  more 
mile-post  on  the  short  road  of  life.  1  was  about  to  say 
that  I  send  you  birth-day  greetings;  but,  alas!  I  have  no 
greetings  to  send — if  greetings  are  to  imply  joy  or  con- 
gratulation. But  in  their  stead,  1  can,  and  do  send  you 
the  heart-warm  good  wishes  of  your  affectionate 

BROTHER. 

P.  S. — It  is  a  sad  thing  that  such  a  superscription  as  the 
above  should  be  so  specific — without  a  name,  and  yet  a 
perfect  identification  of  my  individuality. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  13,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  have  written  a 

letter  to-night  to  Josh  Hill,  and  I  wish  you  would  contrive 
to  get  a  chance  to  read  it,  so  as  to  give  me  your  opinion  of 
it  in  point  of  taste.  Considering  to  whom  it  is  written,  I 
am  very  doubtful  about  the  good  taste  of  the  vein  in  which 
it  is  written.  I  mean,  however,  to  send  it.  The  part  which 
gives  me  doubt  is  intended  in  pure  fun,  and  I  suppose  he 
will  take  it  so.  The  other  part  of  it,  I  hope,  may  produce 
good,  wholesome  fruit.  I  gave  him  a  message  for  you  in 
the  letter  as  an  introduction  of  the  subject:  so  you  may  ask 
him  what  I  wrote,  and  so  see  the  letter,  unless  he  is  re- 
solved not  to  let  you  see  it 

IFrom  L.  S.  to  A.  11.  S.  I 

SPARTA,  February  17,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  have  been  very 

busy  of  late,  and  have  not  had  time  to  finish  the  Answer 
of  Georgia.  I  cannot  do  it  now  during  the  term  of  court. 
I  read  your  remarks  on  Campbell's  motion  for  a  continu- 
ance with  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction.  I  only  regret  that 
you  did  not  tell  them  plainly  what  object  the  "pretext" 
was  designed  to  accomplish,  so  as  to  show  in  vivid  light  the 
aid  and  comfort  our  enemy  was  receiving  from  the  poor, 
cowardly  dodging  of  small  Southern  men 


I4O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MARCH  2,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Let  me  tell  you  an 

incident  that  occurred  to  Becky  and  Rio  just  before  she 
was  sick.  She  had  got  to  taking  Rio  through  his  manual 
(of  tricks)  occasionally,  by  the  aid  of  a  piece  of  meat,  which 
she  would  hold  up  for  him  as  a  reward  of  obedience.  On 
the  occasion  to  which  I  particularly  refer,  she  made  him 
"sit  up"  and  ''turn  over,"  and  then  got  him  stretched  out 
to  be  dead.  After  waiting  a  little  while,  she  gave  him  the 
signal  to  rise;  but,  somehow  or  other,  Rio  had  become  ob- 
livious as  to  the  master  (or  mistress)  of  ceremonies,  and  all 
her  "that'll  do's"  were  of  no  avail  to  raise  him  from  his 
death-like  posture.  She  became  very  energetic  at  last,  and 
urgent  with  her  "that'll  do,"  but  still  Rio  lay  immovable. 
Becky  looked  uneasy,  and  I  took  occasion  to  play  on  her. 
Said  I :  "There  now!  what  have  you  done ?  You've  killed 
uncle  Eckly's  dog!  Shall  I  write  to  him  about  it?"  At 
this,  the  servants  (it  was  just  as  we  had  risen  from  the 
breakfast-table)  all  broke  out  in  a  laugh,  and  poor  Becky 
looked  like  the  picture  of  despair;  but  she  didn't  remain 
long  inactive:  she  looked  at  me,  as  if  to  read  my  face, 
(which  was  solemn  as  I  could  make  it, )  and  then  suddenly 
she  jumped  at  Rio  (who,  a  grand  villain,  seemed  to  be  en- 
joying the  scene)  and  shook  him  pretty  roughly.  His  re- 
ply to  that  salute  was  a  very  audible  »Toid.  Instantly,  tri- 
umph was  in  Becky's  eye.  She  stepped  a  pace  backward, 
having  Rio  between  her  and  myself,  and,  with  the  air  and 
emphasis  of  a  tragedy-queen,  demanded  of  me,  "Do  you 
call  that  dead  ?"  The  effect  was  irresistible  to  me,  and  T 
exploded,  and  so  did  the  servants,  and  so  did  Rio  ;  for  the 
scoundrel  clearly  perceived  that  the  game  was  up,  and  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  throw  off  the  sliani,  and,  in  the  most 
marked  manner,  express  his  appreciation  of  the  sport. 
Poor  Rio!  he  .is  at  Crawfordville,  and  he  was  very  loth  to 
stay  behind 

I  do  not  know  what  else  I  can  write,  unless  I  tell  you  I 
am  sad  and  sorrowful ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  give  you  my 
thoughts  about  that;  so  I  will  say,  good-bye. 

[  I-Y.mi   I,.  S.  tu  A.   II.  S.  ] 

KI.UKKTO.N,  March  13,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — You    say   I 

have  never  sa,id  what.  T  thought  of  your  speech  in  Walker 


JUDGE    LfNTON    STEPHENS.  14! 

and  Paulding.  I  saw  that  speech  in  due  season,  and  wrote 
you  my  opinion  of  it  immediately.  I  expressed  myself  as 
greatly  pleased  with  its  doctrine  and  its  style.  I  thought 
it  was  an  able  exposition  of  the  true  doctrine,  unanswera- 
ble, and  passing,  as  the  debate  showed,  with  many  allusions 

to  it,  but  without  any  attempt  to  answer  it 

I  made  one  jury  speech,  at  Madison  court,  in  defense  of 
a  man  who  was  charged  with  an  assault  with  intent  to  mur- 
der. Thomas  prosecuted  him.  He  was  acquitted — very 
much  contrary  to  everybody's  expectations.  The  State  in- 
troduced two  witnesses,  and  I  got  up  a  conflict  between 
them ;  introduced  no  evidence ;  had  the  conclusion ;  and 
Nash  says  I  will  forever  be  known  in  Madison  as  the  "Su- 
sannah man."  I  was  appointed  by  the  court.  The  fel- 
low's name  was  Stephens.  That  was  the  second  occasion 
on  which  I  saved  the  name.  The  other  was  the  poor  fellow 

in  Warren I  have 

defended  one  of  Thomas'  friends  here,  and  acquitted  him 
on  a  technical  point.  Thomas  did  not  defend  the  case  at 
all.  I  had  no  fee,  nor  did  Thomas 


[  Krom  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  29,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Have  you  made 

no  speech  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution?  I  have  seen 
none  from  you.  Did  you  ever  get  a  letter  from  me,  saying 
what  I  thought  the  South  ought  to  do  in  case  Kansas  shall 
be  rejected?  I  wrote  it  long  ago,  but  you  have  never  at- 
tended to  it.  I  said  we  ought  to  break  up  the  Union.  I 
don't  allude  to  it  for  the  purpose  of  going  into  the  matter 
at  all  at  this  time,  but  merely  by  way  of  identifying  the 
letter.  I  think  but  little  about  it.  Indeed,  I  am  sorry  and 
distressed  to  see  from  your  letters  that  you  allow  yourself 
to  be  made  so  unhappy  about  it.  It  is  not  worth  the  trou- 
ble. Fame  is  a  poor  thing — a  miserably  poor  thing!  Life 
is  a  poor  thing — patriotism  is  a  poor  thing — all  the  things 
of  this  world  are  poor,  beggarly  elements — ashes  and  emp- 
tiness! Almost  all  men  talk  in  this  strain  sometimes;  but 
I  think  he  is  a  poor,  deluded  man  who  does  not  fed  it 
always. 


I42  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

A  messenger  has  just  come  from  my  plantation  for  a 
doctor  to  go  and  sec  a  negro  who  is  taken  suddenly  very 
ill — so  goes  the  world.  Again,  good-night. 

[L.  S.  to  R.  M.  Johnston.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  30,  1858. 

DEAR  DICK — I  returned  home  last  Friday,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  five  weeks  at  Taliaferro,  Madison,  Klbcrt,  Hart 
and  Wilkes  courts.  I  found  nothing,  on  my  return,  from 
you.  Will  you  not  be  at  Hancock  court?  Arc  you  all 
well  ?  How  are  you  pleased  now,  and  how  are  you  all 
pleased  with  your  new  home  since  you  have  all  got  together 
again?  But  is  it  home?  How  would  you  feel  in  reading 

Q  •*  O 

an  instrument,  under  seal,  opening  in  this  wise:  "This  in- 
denture, made  this,  the  first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  eight- 
een hundred  and  fifty-eight,  between  Richard  M.  Johnston, 
of  t lie  county  of  Clarke,  of  the  one  part?"  etc.  Wouldn't  it, 
in  fact,  have  the  appearance  of  a  transaction,  dated  with 
great  fitness,  on  the  first  day  of  April  ?  Wouldn't  it  be  a 
fooling  piece  of  business?  In  short,  I  want  you  to  inform 
me — distinctly  inform  me — whether  or  not  you  consider 

yourself  suable  in  the  county  of  Clarke 1  did 

not  see  the  five  chapters  in  the  Constitutionalist  until  the  mat- 
ter was  called  to  my  attention,  by  members  of  the  bar,  while 
I  was  out  last.  It  was  a  subject  of  much  talk,  and  farora- 
blc  talk.  Xobody  knew  the  author,  or  seemed  to  suspect 
him;  but,  to  confess  the  truth,  after  hearing  them  talk 
about  it,  I  couldn't  help  telling  them  who  he  was;  and  I 
rather  pulled  my  shirt-collar  up,  too,  when  I  did  it — as  much 
as  to  say,  "My  old  partner,  gentlemen— mine  intimate 
friend — ahem!"  Let  me  tell  you  a  good  joke  about  it: 
Huff,  of  Warrenton,  said  the  scene  was  laid  in  Warren 
county,  and  that  Judge  Roberts  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  characters  that  figure  in  it.  Xow,  I  protest  that,  in  all 
my  attempts  to  connect  myself  with  the  honors  of  this  new 
author,  I  have  confined  myself  to  the  truth;  but  you  now 
perceive  that  others  have  been  too  strongly  tempted  to  be 
"  delivered  from  evil ;"  but  in  plain,  sober  narrative,  I  have 
heard  the  piece  much  praised,  and  have  been  greatly  de- 
lighted ;  and  now.  with  my  warmest  good  wishes  for  your 
happiness  here  and  hereafter,  I  remain,  as  ever, 

Yours,  most  trulv,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  143 

The  last  paragraph  has  reference  to  some  amusing  papers 
which  Colonel  Johnston  furnished  to  the  Augusta  CoJistitii- 
tiotialist,  and  which  were  subsequently  published  in  book- 
form.  They  were  in  the  vein  of  the  "Georgia  Scenes," 
and  were  very  popular,  and  greatly  admired  by  those  who 
have  a  relish  for  what  is  ludicrous  in  incident  or  in  char- 
acter. "Philemon  Perch"  is  immortal  in  the  realms  of 

funny  fiction. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON-,  GA.,  March  31,  1858. 

DEAR   BROTHER— Mr.  Thomas  was 

at  my  house  very  sick  with  headache.  I  was  up  with  him, 
and  afterwards  wrote  ten  letters.  I  slept  in  the  cars  this 
evening  and  dreamed  all  the  way.  My  dreams  were  of 
home,  sweet,  happy  home,  as  it  used  to  be,  and  the  loved 
One  who  use  to  bless  it,  but  shall  never  bless  it  more — no 
more,  forever,  except  in  dreams  and  in  memories!  These 
memories  are  sometimes  sweet,  and  yet  always  painful — 
often  overwhelming.  Often,  very  often,  do  I  cry  out, 
"Oh!  had  I  wings,  I'd  fly  away  and  be  at  rest."  It's  a 
wear}',  weary  life  to  me.  When  1  die,  one  weary  head  and 
worn-out  heart  will  be  at  rest.  Good-night. 

Affectionately,  LINTON. 

[Fro.m  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

WARRENTON,  April  5,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Mr.   Toombs 

went  on  to  Washington  City  yesterday  evening;  1  parted 
with  him  at  Camak.  The  court  here  will  probably  be  a 
short  one,  on  account  of  the  absence  of  him,  yourself  and 
Thomas,  though  no  case  has  been  continued  yet  for  the 
absence  of  any  one  of  you.  I  am  afraid  something  is  the 
matter  with  Thomas,  or  some  of  his  family.  You  will  hear 

through  Mr.  Toombs  all  the  news You 

have  sent  me  no  instructions  about  your  cases  here,  nor 
anywhere  else.  I  will  get  all  continued  heir  if  I  can  ;  for  I 
shall  certainly,  if  possible,  avoid  the  putting  of  my  Warren 
luck  upon  you.  I  have  succeeded  everywhere  else  this 
riding;  but  I  have  never  succeeded  here,  and  I  don't  expect 
to  now. 


144  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

April  6th.  This  morning,  before  I  got  out  of  bed, 
in  came  Dick,  (Thomas'  man)  with  a  letter  to  me  from 
Thomas,  saying  his  wife  was  very  ill,  and  he  could  not  leave 

home Poor  Thomas — I  pity  him  deeply, 

and  fervently  do  I  hope  that  the  cup  may  pass  from  him. 
I  also  got  a  letter  this  morning  from  Tom  Cobb,  saying  he 
cannot  come  to  this  court  on  account  of  a  religious  revival 
which  is  going  on  in  Athens.  Tom  has  got  to  be  very 
much  of  a  religious  zealot.  But,  withal,  he  is  uncommonly 
modest,  and  unobtrusive,  and  sincere  in  his  religion.  Poor 
fellow!  He,  too,  has  been  a  great  sufferer.''' 

[From  I,.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

WARREXTOX,  April  8,  1858. 

DKAR  BROTHER — Saving  a  very 

few  objects  of  affection,  life  has  little  that  can  add  to,  or 
take  from,  the  small  sum  of  happiness  now  left  to  me.  My 
children,  my  poor  children  !  i  do  deeply  pity  tJicin.  But 
enough  of  this,  too.  I  have  a  great  propensity  to  talk,  or 
to  write  of  my  griefs  and  my  sufferings;  but  1  cannot  help 
feeling  that  the  ear  of  the  warmest  friend  is  growing  dull, 
and  constantly  more  dull,  to  the  oft-repeated  story.  No 
man  has  a  right  to  make  himself  disagreeable;  and  human 
nature  will  not  pardon  disagreeableness  long.  The  man 
who  inflicts  his  griefs  and  complaints  upon  his  friends  must 
soon  lose  his  friends.  Yet,  it  is  hard  to  speak  otherwise 
than  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart.  The  consequence 
with  me  is,  that  I  have  but  little  to  say.  Silence  and  soli- 
tude are  my  most  constant  and  congenial  companions.  1 
have  talked  and  written  of  the  thoughts  that  possess  me, 
to  you  more  than  I  have  presumed  to  do  to  anybody  else. 

And  now,  good-night 

Affectionately,  LINTON. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  U.S.] 

SPARTA,  April  13,  1858. 

L)KAR  BROTHER — The  last  letter  I  got  from  you  was  dated 
the  /th  instant,  and  was  received  on  the  loth,  on  my  return 


JUDGE    I.TN'TOX    STF.PHKN9.  145 

home  from  Warren  court  Saturday  night.  Jack  Smith  tells 
me  he  saw  you  on  the  8th,  and  that  is  the  last  news  I  have 
had  of  you.  1  think  my  letters  to  you,  while  I  was  on  the 
circuit,  were  pretty  frequent,  considering  that  I  was  away 
from  home,  in  crowds  at  night,  and  often  busy  at  night.  I 
am  sorry  yours  to  me  have  become  so  much  less  frequent. 
1  wrote  you  from  Warren  court,  that  Thomas  had  not  got 
there  on  account  of  the  illness  of  his  wife.  He  afterwards 
came,  and  then  came  on  home  with  the  Judge  and  me  in 
our  conveyance.  He  and  1  went  to  church  here  on  Sunday. 
Monday  night,  a  messenger  came  to  tell  him  that  his  wife 
\vas  worse.  He  started  off  home  that  night.  Daniel  took 
him  in  my  buggy  to  Double  Wells.  He  got  Dr.  Alfriend 
to  go,  too.  Alfriend  got  back  here  on  Wednesday  morning, 
and  reported  that  he  and  Thomas  had  arrived  at  Elberton 
about  two  o'clock  the  day  before,  and  found  Thomas'  wife 
dead.  She  had  been  dead  about  twenty-four  hours,  having 
died  about  ten  o'clock  Monday  morning.  She  was  dead 
when  the  messenger  got  here.  Thomas  did  not  hear  of  the 
fact  till  he  had  got  half  way  from  his  back  gate  to  his  wife's 
room.  They  buried  her  the  same  evening  of  their  arrival, 
and  Alfriend  left  that  night.  When  Thomas  left  home,  his 
doctor  had  pronounced  her  out  of  clanger,  and  she  had  urged 
him  to  go  to  his  courts.  Little  did  either  of  them  dream  that 
they  were  parting  to  meet  no  more.  They  observed  no  change 
for  the  worse  until  Saturday,  and  did  not  regard  the  change- 
as  serious  until  Sunday,  when  they  started  the  messenger  for 
Thomas.  Oh  !  what  a  terrible  stroke  it  was  to  poor  Thomas ! 
1  think  of  him  even'  hour  in  the  day,  and  pity  him  with  a 
pity  that  few  can  comprehend.  Poor  Thomas!  poor 
Thomas!  But  he  has  one  great  stay  and  comfort  in  hav- 
ing a  mother  left  to  him.  My  own  greatest  sense  of  be- 
reavement has  been  in  the  loss  of  that  one  single  being  on 
whom  I  leaned  in  every  trouble.  It  has  often  seemed  to 
me  that  I  could  bear  any  other  affliction  as  heavy  as  the 
loss  of  her,  (if  it  were  possible  for  any  other  to  be  as  heavy) 
if  1  could  only  have  her  help  me  bear  it.  But  she  being 
gone,  all  is  desolation!  There  is  no  comfort,  and  nothing 
but  despair.  But  I  imagine  and  trust  that  it  is  not  so  with 
Thomas.  It  is  a  great  calamity  to  be  dependent  on  an}' 
one  being,  as  I  was  upon  my  wife.  1  was  aware  of  it  to  a 
great  extent  while  she  was  in  life;  but  1  had  not  compre- 

15 


146  151OGKAPHICAI.    SKI-ITCH    OF 

hendcd  it  all.  I  had  often  trembled  at  the  prospect  of  our 
separation;  but  still  had  cherished  a  hope,  which  was  a 
blessed  and  blissful  one,  that  we  should  glide  gently  along 
through  many  happy  years,  and  then  sink  to  rest  together. 
Often,  often,  did  we  express  to  each  other  the  fervent  as- 
piration that  we  might  not  be  separated  in  our  deaths. 
Oh,  God!  it  seems  to  me  I  am  cra/.y !  So  keen  and  so  sud- 
den does  the  sense  of  my  loss  strike  me  at  many  times,  as 
to  deprive  me  of  all  sense,  and  transport  me  in  a  twinkling 
into  a  world  of  confusion  and  doubt.  I  often  doubt  whether 
I  exist.  It  is  .TO  curious,  because  it  is  so  sudden  and  con 
founding.  I  am  so  overwhelmed  by  a  sudden  sense  of  what 
I  miss,  that  I  cannot  realize  that  I  am  alive.  This  is  a  feel- 
ing that  is  very  frequent  with  me.  I  never  had  anything 
like  it  before,  and  my  description  of  it  is  but  weak.  I  doubt 

whether  you  can  imagine  what  it  is I  intended  to 

give  you  the  result  of  our  court  here  when  I  commenced  to 
write,  but  I  have  not  interest  enough  in  it  now  to  do  so.  I 
will  write  more  in  the  morning.  I  have  not  gone  to  Ogle- 
thorpe  court,  because  from  Thomas'  absence,  and  Tom 
Cobb's  absence  on  account  of  the  religious  revival  at 
Athens,  it  is  certain  that  nothing  will  be  done.  I  wanted 
a  little  rest,  but  I  have  not  had  it  yet. 

Old  Mr.  Prescott,  the  hotel-keeper  in  Warrenton,  died 
the  night  after  we  left  there.  He  was  stricken  down  with 
apoplexy  the  day  before  we  left.  Poor  old  man !  The 
family  seemed  in  great  distress.  May  God  have  mercy  on 
us  all! '.  . 

[  From  I..  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  | 

SPARTA,  May  9,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTH KR — I   yesterday  got 

and  read  the  debate  between  you  and  \\ inter  Davis.  In 
reading  his  speech,  I  could  easily  perceive  that  he  was 
really  replying,  or  at  least  shaping  his  words  to  meet  a 
speech  which  followed  him.  I  think  I  should  easily  have 
detected  that  without  any  previous  intimation  that  it  was  so. 
Your  complaint  of  the  report  of  his  speech  is  a  most  just 
one.  I  can  well  conceive  that  if  he  had  spoken  the  speech 
which  is  printed,  your  reply  would  have  been  differently 
turned,  and,  in  man}-  places,  differently  worded;  but  I  do 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  147 

really  think  it  is  bad  enough  on  him  as  it  is;  and  yet,  I  felt 
so  indignant  that  he  should  at  all  escape.  I  cannot  draw 
a  full  and  clear  conception  from  so  mutilated  a  history 
as  the  Globe  gives ;  but  I  could  still  very  satisfactorily  per- 
ceive that  he  was  badly  tlircshcd,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
House,  and  in  his  own  opinion.  But  I  must  close.  I  am 
sorry  you  did  not  come  home  as  soon  as  the  Kansas  Bill 
was  passed.  You  need  rest.  You  ought  to  come.  I  like 
the  Conference  Bill,  after  comparing  it  with  the  others, 
better  than  I  do  the  Senate's  original  bill ;  but  I  did  not 
like  it  a  bit  when  I  first  read  it.  I  thought  it  had  gone  off 
on  a  new  and  manufactured  issue,  and  was  nothing  but  a 
dodge.  I  felt  outraged,  to  tell  you  the  truth;  but  I  held 
my  peace.  I  did  not  then  understand  the  Senate  Bill.  I 
perceive  the  issue  was  an  original  one,  and  a  meritorious 
one.  I  like  the  Conference  Bill  a  good  deal  better  than  the 
other,  since  I  have  come  to  understand  both.  Good-bye. 
Affectionately,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  May  10,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  have  found 

several  of  our  friends  who  did  not  like  the  "Conference 
Bill,"  and  1  think  many,  very  many,  are  lukewarm  towards 
it ;  but  I  have  not  met  with  one  who  did  not  change  his 
mind  upon  being  correctly  informed  as  to  the  comparative 
merits  of  that  and  the  original  Senate  Bill.  The  truth  is, 
the  Conference  Bill  is  not  what  I  wished  to  see.  1  wanted 
the  naked  issue  of  admission  or  rejection,  under  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution,  decided  by  Congress.  The  Conference 
Bill  does  this  theoretically,  but  not  practically.  It  declares 
it,  and,  therefore,  recognizes  the  right  and  the  principle, 
but  it  leaves  to  a  future  vote  the  decision  of  the  result. 
While  this  is  true,  I  still  have  no  quarrel  with  that  bill.  It- 
accomplishes  all  that  could  have  been  accomplished  by  any 
bill.  The  issue  which  I  desired  was  not  decided,  because 
it  \vas  not  presented.  It  came  in  company  with  another 
issue,  which  complicated  it,  and  which  was  obliged  to  be 
separated  from  it,  unless  you  had  submitted  to  be  swindled 
oat  of  the  public  lands.  That  the  true  issue  was  not  prac- 
tically and  finally  decided  by  Congress  is  the  fault,  not  of 


1^8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

Congress — for  the}'  have  done  all  that  could  be  done — but 
it  is  the  fault  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Kansas, 
who  presented  that  issue  on  terms  that  were  wholly  unallow- 
able. The  only  course,  therefore,  was  to  do  what  you  have 
('one — decide  the  issue  and  leave  them  to  reform  their  terms, 
it  is  not  Congress  who  fixes  a  condition,  but  it  was  Kansas 
herself  who  offered  a  very  unreasonable  condition.  You 
have  told  her  all  that  you  could  tell  her — that  you  admit  her 
into  the  Union  if  she  will  remodel  her  Constitution  and  make 
it  reasonable.  There  is  no  further  action  needed  on  your  part. 
You  have  placed  her  in  a  position  from  which  she  puts  herself 
into  the  Union  as  soon  as  she  comes  to  reason.  Indeed,  the 
legal  effect  of  the  Conference  Bill  is  so  clear  and  decided 
that  I  am  amazed  that  any  Northern  man  could  support  it, 
who  had  voted  against  the  other  bill  because  it  failed  to  sub- 
mit the  Constitution.  The  Conference  Bill  does  not  submit 
the  Constitution;  nor  does  it  even  submit  the  question 
•whether  they  will  conic  into  the  I'nion  under  tlic  Lecoinpton 
Constitution.  It  doesn't  submit  the  Constitution  ;  for  it  says 
expressly  that  this  is  your  legal,  valid  act,  and  if  you  don't 
come  in  under  this  Constitution,  the  offer  of  grace  is  with- 
drawn from  you.  and  you  are  remitted  to  the  general  rule, 
which  requires  more  population  than  you  have  got;  nor 
does  it  submit  the  question  whether  the}'  will  come  into  the 
Union  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  I  know  there 
are  in  it  some  words  that  seem  to  bear  that  import;  but,  in 
my  judgment,  they  do  not  admit  of  it.  There  are  other 
words  following  in  the  same  sentence  which  control  the 
first.  The  effect  of  the  whole  sentence  is  this:  a  vote 
against  the  proposition  submitted  shall  be  deemed  an  ex- 
pression of  unwillingness  to  come  into  the  I'nion  on  the 
tenns  proposed.  The  real  question — the  exact,  precise  ques- 
tion which  is  submitted  is,  whether  Kansas  will  consent  t<> 
come  into  the  Union  with  less  land  titan  site  has  demanded. 
I  could  still  further  illustrate  my  analysis  of  this  bill,  but  1 
must  close 

|  From   L.  S.  to  A.   If.  S.  | 

SPARTA,  May  29,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— The  last  letter 

i  uot  from  you  was  yesterday,  on  my  return  home,      it  an 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  I4Q 

nounced  the  result  of  the  Ohio  contested  election.  I  am 
truly  glad  that  Vallandigham  got  his  seat.  I  had  two  cases 
at  the  Supreme  Court,  and  was  plaintiff  in  error  in  both 
cases.  I  gained  one,  but  lost  the  other.  Thomas  lost  the 
one  I  gained,  and  he  was  pretty  mad  about  it.  Reese  and 
I  were  together  in  it.  It  was  the  case  of  Nolan's  will,  from 
Wilkes.  Mr.  Toombs  was  of  counsel  with  Reese  and  mv- 

J 

self.  If  you  happen  to  think  of  it  when  you  are  with  him, 
1  wish  you  would  tell  him  we  gained  the  case 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  j 

SPARTA,  June  3,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  have  neg- 
lected for  some  weeks  to  write  you  what  I  intended  to  write 
immediate]}-  upon  its  occurrence.  Lamar,  of  Newton, 
wrote  to  me,  inquiring  whether  I  desired  to  be  a  candidate 
for  Congress  next  time,  and  saying  that  the  friends  of  Har- 
per desired  to  bring  him  forward  for  the  race  if  I  should 
not  be  in  the  field.  He  said  that  his  inquiry  was  not 
prompted  by  a  wish  for  me  to  decline ;  for,  he  said,  there 
was  no  man  in  the  State  whom  he  would  prefer  to  see  in 
Congress  rather  than  myself;  but  he  said  his  object  was 
solely  to  be  informed  what  my  intention  was,  so  that  the 
friends  of  Harper  might  govern  their  course  accordingly. 
He  assured  me  that,  under  no  circumstances,  would  Har- 
per, or  his  friends,  interfere  with  me ;  for,  he  said,  Harper's 
friends  were  my  friends.  1  replied  to  him,  immediately, 
that  I  should  not  run  the  race  any  more;  and  that  I  should 
be  gratified  to  see  the  choice  of  the  party  and  the  district 
settle  on  Harper.  I  consulted  nobody  about  it ;  I  needed 
no  consultation  ;  for  none  could  have  changed  my  decision  ; 
that  decision  had  long  been  made  up,  irrevocably.  It  was 
a  painful  thing  to  me  to  express,  among  those  who  had  all 
been  warm  friends  to  me,  a  preference  for  any  one;  but  I 
never  did  like  neutral  people.  Harper  is  a  noble  fellow, 
and  lie  ought  to  be  the  man.  His  qualifications,  and  the 
complexion  of  the  district,  alike  point  to  him  as  the  man, 
and  I  felt  that  it  would  be  a  selfish  regard  for  my  own  com- 
fort and  pleasant  relations  to  refrain  from  saying  so  ;  and  so 
1  said  it. 

I  agree  with  you  entirely  in  the  view  you  express  about 


I5O  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

our  proper  course  towards  the  British  ships  which  have  out- 
raged our  rights.  We  ought  to  catch  them,  or  sink  them, 
and  be  ourselves  the  party  to  render  an  explanation,  instead 
of  demanding  one ;  and  the  explanation  should  be  a  very 
short  and  pointed  one:  simply  that  we  had  punished  indig- 
nity and  insolence  as  they  deserved:  that  could  give  no 
offense  to  anybody,  except  to  those  who  back  and  defend 
the  indignity  and  insolence;  an  offense  to  st/c/t  people,  I 
should  not  regard.  I  think  the  defect  in  our  national  ad- 
ministration is  a  want  of  clear  views  of  courage.  I  think 
they  are  quite  as  good  as  any  we  have  had  since  Folk's 
time;  but  that  is  not  saying  much.  Don't  understand  me 
as  expressing  admiration  of  Folk's  administration;  but  he 
had  a  policy  and  a  will,  and  he  carried  both  out  with  stead- 
iness and  ability 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  June  7,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Among  other 

things,  Mr.  Thomas  talked  about  the  British  aggressions  on 
our  ships.  He  had  seen  Mr.  Toombs"  position  announced, 
about  seizing  or  sinking.  He  said  he  thought  that  right. 
He  went  on  to  say  that  he  thought  we  ought  to  seize  the 
offenders  and  keep  them  until  their  government  disavowed 
their  acts  or  backed  them.  If  a  disavowal  should  be  the 
result,  he  said  we  ought  to  punish  them  ;  if  an  indorsement 
should  come,  we  ought  to  turn  them  loose,  and  then  declare 
war  against  England.  I  asked  him  why  we  should  turn 
tlicm  loose,  and  then  declare  war?  I  asked  him  what  he 
would  do  after  declaring  war,  and  after  he  had  turned  them 
loose,  except  to  go  right  straight  to  trying  to  catch  them 
again?  And  I  asked  him  if  he  did  turn  them  loose,  how 
much  start  he  would  give  them  ?  The  old  gentleman  smiled 
and  gave  it  up  by  a  severe  silence.  The  rest  all  laughed, 
and  I  went  on  with  somewhat  of  a  war  harangue.  It  does 
seem  to  me  to  be  a  very  clear  case,  that  we  ought  to  cap- 
ture the  offending  ships.  Of  course,  if  Kngland  disavows 
their  acts,  she  cannot  claim  to  screen  them  from  our  just 
punishment;  and  if  she  backs  them,  it  is  only  to  declare 
that  she  had  already  thrust  a  state  of  war  upon  us.  As  a 
peace  question,  it  is  q.  clear  one;  for  we  are  only  punishing 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  151 

individual  breaches  of  the  peace.  As  a  war  question,  it  is 
equally  clear ;  for,  in  that  case,  we  would  seize  not  only 
the  offending  vessels,  but  all  other  British  vessels  that  we 
could  catch.  What  can  be  a  more  legitimate  act  of  war 
than  to  capture  the  enemy's  vessels?  That  is  one  main 
aim  of  warfare.  The  only  question,  then,  is,  shall  our  en 
cmy  be  entitled  to  an  advantage  by  making  war  covertly? 
Tf  she  had  declared  it,  of  course,  our  plain  duty  is  to  cap- 
ture all  her  vessels  that  we  can.  Shall  we  be  restrained 
from  capturing  them  because  she  has  done  acts  of  war  with- 
out declaring  war?  If  there  is  no  war,  we  seize  and  pun- 
ish ;  if  there  is  open  war,  we  seize ;  and  shall  we  lose  the 
right  to  seize  by  reason  of  secret  or  covert  war?  It  does 
seem  to  me,  however,  that,  after  seizing  the  offending  ves- 
sels, we  ought  to  detain  them,  without  punishment,  until  we 
know  whether  they  are  to  be  treated  as  malefactors,  or  as 
prisoners  or  prizes  of  war — not  to  let  them  loose  to  go  to 
doing  us  all  the  harm  they  may  be  able  to  do,  but  to  detain 
them  as  prisoners  of  war,  or  to  punish  them  as  offenders. 
Hut  I  believe  I  shall  cease  to  tax  you  on  the  war  ques- 
tion, which  you  doubtless  understand  too  well  to  be  enter- 
tained by  anything  I  can  say  on  it.  I  think  Mr.  Toombs' 
recent  debates  on  the  internal  improvement  question  are 
crushingly  powerful.  I  have  been  delighted  with  his 
speeches  on  that  subject.  In  my  humble  judgment,  no- 
body in  this  country,  now  or  formerly,  has  ever  understood 
that  subject  so  well  as  he  does.  He,  himself,  gets  better 
on  it  the  longer  his  mind  runs  on  it.  It  looks  like  a  Her- 
culean labor— and  so  it  is — but  I  do  believe  the  power  of 
his  arguments  will  burst  up  the  abominable  system.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  error  is  obliged  to  fall  under  the  ter- 
rible batter}-  he  has  opened  upon  it.  He  is  fighting  it 
alone,  and  I  love  to  see  him  stand  as  the  solitary  cham- 
pion. He  is  more  than  a  match  for  them  all 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  June  8,  1858. 

DEAR   BROTHER — Dickenson 

(my  overseer)  is  very  ill  indeed.  I  wrote  you  yesterday 
that  I  had  him  brought  up  to  my  house  to  take  care  of  him. 
He  was  delirious  all  night,  last  night,  and  is  still  so.  He 


152  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

has  no  rationality  about  him.  While  I  am  writing,  I  have 
Travis  with  him  to  keep  him  from  tearing  off  a  blister  which 
is  drawing  over  his  stomach  and  bowels.  I  have  somebody 
with  him  all  the  while;  but  nobody  can  control  him,  when 
I  am  away,  but  Travis.  Poor  fellow!  He  is  constantly 
talking  about  his  crop,  and  wanting  his  hat  and  clothes  to 
go  to  business.  He  is  a  very  worthy  young  man,  1  think, 
and  I  am  very  sorry  for  him.  I  sent  for  his  father  this 
morning.  He  lives  ten  or  twelve  miles  distant. 

Affectionately,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

|  From    !..   S.   to  A.    II.  S.  | 

SPARTA,  June  i  i,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTH KR — Dickenson,  poor  fellow,  is  dead.  He 
died  last  night  a  little  after  10  o'clock.  For  more  than 
sixty  hours,  he  had  lain  without  any  rational  connection  in 
his  thoughts,  and  he  so  continued  to  the  last.  He  is  to  be 
buried  thirteen  or  fourteen  miles  from  here,  and  I  am  going 
to  the  burial.  I  want  to  return  this  evening,  and  go  to  my 
plantation  to-morrow.  I  have  seven  or  eight  cases  of  fever 
there,  but  none  bad.  I  think  poor  Dickenson  killed  him 
self  by  keeping  up  so  long  after  he  \vas  attacked.  I  don't 
think  that  any  of  my  negroes  will  have  to  encounter  that 
difficulty.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  will  be  out  of  my 
power  to  meet  you  at  Crawfordvillc  on  your  return  home. 
I  trust  you  will  come  over  here  immediately.  I  have  al- 
ready written  you  that  we  are  to  have  an  adjourned  court 
here,  next  Monday,  to  try  cases  of  Mr.  Thomas',  wherein 
you  are  interested 

[  From   I...  S.   to  A.    II.  S.  | 

SPAKTA.  July  2,  185^. 

DKAK  BROTHER — -Yesterday,  1  was  thirty-five  years  old — 
just  the  half-way  house  in  the  road  allotted  to  life.  Manx- 
break  down  long  before  they  reach  the  goal,  and  very  many 
bcfore  they  attain  the  half-way  house.  1  low  much  longer 
I  shall  endure  on  the  route,  I  cannot  know 

In  the  summer  of  iS6<S,  the  t\vo  brothers  took  a  recrea- 
tive journey  to  tin-  Northwest,  passing  by  and  stopping  at 


JUDGE    LTNTOX    STEP H. FA'S.  153 

Chattanooga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Nashville,  Mammoth 
Cave,  Louisville,  Lexington,  Ashland,  where  they  were  the 
guests  of  the  Hon.  James  B.  Clay,  the  son  of  the  great 
statesman  ;  thence  to  Cincinnati,  North  Bend,  Indianapolis. 
Terre  Haute  and  Chicago,  returning  by  the  Illinois  Central 
to  Cairo,  where  they  took  steamer  clown  the  Mississippi  to 
Memphis;  thence  the\-  returned  home  by  the  Memphis  & 
Charleston  Railroad,  etc.  They  were  absent  four  or  five 
weeks.  This  was  the  first  travel,  for  recreation  only,  the 
elder  brother  had  ever  taken.  The  following  letter  refers, 
in  part,  to  that  travel : 

['From  I,.  S.  to  K.   M.  Johnston.  ] 

SPARTA,  September  3,  1858. 

MY  DKAK  DICK — Again  I  am  about  to  leave  home;  and 
one  of  the  last  things  I  shall  do,  before  getting  off,  is  to 
send  you  a  word  of  remembrance  and  farewell.  I  have  just 
finished  a  long  letter  to  Cosby — the  first  one  1  have  written 
him  since  he  went  up  the  country.  He  has  written  to  me 
none  at  all.  He  had  promised  to  write  to  me,  and  I  had 
resolved  not  to  write  to  him  until  he  had  fulfilled  his  prom- 
ise, but  I  have  heard  that  the  old  fellow  has  been  sick,  and 
my  heart  softens  towards  him.  He  and  John  DeYVitt  are 
now  both  at  Dr.  Connell's,  and  are  both  convalescent,  as  I 
hear.  But  I  mustn't  run  off  the  handle  at  the  start;  for  I 
haven't  time  to  afford  it;  so  I  must,  at  once,  answer  some 
points  in  your  last  letter.  I  mentioned  to  Kilic  the  subject 
of  his  "speech,"  at  Athens,  the  first  time  1  saw  him  after 
getting  your  account  of  it.  He  professed  to  be  very  well 
satisfied  with  it:  neither  elated,  as  with  a  triumph,  nor  de- 
pressed under  a  sense  of  failure.  He  seemed  to  think  that 
he  had  got  over  a  hard  place  in  very  good  order;  and  fur- 
ther seemed  to  think  that  it  was  rather  a  sharp  thing  to  do 
that.  He  insisted  on  my  telling  him  what  von  had  written 
me  about  the  speech,  and  I  rallied  him  on  his  anxiety  about 
your  report,  as  an  evidence  that  his  own  complacency  on 
the  subject  was  assumed.  He  protested  that  it  was  a  de- 
cent, respectable  speech — though  not  exactly  to  be  Called 
a  "hit  "-—and  still  insisted  on  hearing  your  account  of  it. 


154  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKKTCH    OF 

I  put  him  off  by  telling  him  I  would  read  it  to  him  the  first 
time  he  should  be  at  my  house.  He  has  been  here  once 
since,  but  did  not  call  for  the  letter ;  and  so  it  now  stands. 
You  ask  me  about  our  Northwestern  trip,  and  about  Doug- 
las and  his  prospects.  The  trip  was  a  pleasant  one,  and  a 
very  remarkable  one  in  one  respect:  We  travelled  about 
twenty-five  hundred  miles,  and  never  had  an  accident,  never 
lost  a  connection  between  routes,  and  were  not  delayed  one 
hour  beyond  the  usual  time  of  arrival  at  any  place  what- 
ever. I  may  have  made  the  same  remark  to  you  in  my 
last  letter;  for  it  is  a  thing  that  has  rather  dwelt  on  my 
mind.  As  for  Douglas,  we  did  not  sec  him.  We  were  ten 
days  in  Chicago,  while  Healy  was  painting  our  pictures, 
but  Douglas  was  off  in  distant  parts  of  the  State,  stumping 
for  dear  life.  I  rather  thought  he  would  succeed ;  but,  re- 
ally, I  formed  no  satisfactory  opinion  on  the  subject.  I  was 
very  clear,  however,  that  he  ought  to  succeed  in  the  fight 
he  has  nmv  on  his  hands.  I  certainly  disapprove  of  his 
course  on  Lecompton  as  much  as  anybody  does;  but  I  do 
not  like  the  mode  of  expressing  my  disapprobation  of  one 
act,  by  electing  over  his  head  another  man  who  backed  him 
to  the  fullest  extent  in  that  act — besides  his  many 
other  damning  sins  from  which  Douglas  is  free.  To  beat 
him  with  a  worse  man  is  rebuking  him,  not  for  doing  badly, 
but  for  not  doing  bad  enough.  Douglas  is  this  day  making 
a  bold,  gallant  and  manly  fight  against  the  Black  Republi- 
can heresies  of  his  opponent;  and  how  any  Southern  man 
can  wish  to  see  his  defiant  plume  go  down  in  the  conflict  is 
passing  strange  to  me !  He  has  my  heart}'  sympathies  in 
this  fight I  think  some  of  the  newspapers — Dem- 
ocratic as  well  as  American — have  made  asses  of  themselves 
about  Ellic's  visit  to  Illinois.  It  had  no  more  to  do  with 
Douglas*  election  than  it  had  to  do  with  the  moon  ;  he 
talked  about  the  election,  and  talked  very  freely,  too,  while 
he  was  there  ;  and  so  the  moon  shone  on  him  while  he  was 
there,  too;  but  he  went  there  to  talk  about  the  election. 
just  as  much  as  he  went  there  for  the  moon  to  shine  on 
him,  and  no  more.  It  is  a  great  outrage  on  decency  and 
comfort,  that  a  gentleman  cannot  be  permitted  to  make  a 
visit  of  recreation  and  pleasure  without  being  dogged  by 
the  imputation  of  unworthy  motives  from  friends  as  well  as 
foes.  It  is  a  shame.  But  it  is  of  no  consequence ;  for 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  155 

nothing  that  has  been  said  about  it  has  given  him  the  least 
uneasiness.      He  took  it  as  coolly  as  a  duck  takes  a  shower. 

I  treated  cases  of  typhoid  fever  among  my  negroes,  and 
last  night  the  third  death  occurred.  All  three  who  died 
were  young  and  grown.  There  are  two  more  very  ill  in- 
deed. I  have  taken  such  thorough  precautions  that  I  hope 
there  will  be  no  more  cases.  They  have  suffered  greatly 
from  disease  and  from  alarm,  and  I  do  feel  most  deeply  for 
them,  and  particularly  for  poor  old  Abram  and  Charlotte, 
who  have  lost  two  children,  and  now  have  another  at 
death's  door.  The  fatality  in  that  particular  family  is 
strange ;  for  no  two  of  them,  who  have  died,  resided  in  the 
same  house,  and  one  of  them  lived  at  Mr.  Thomas',  where 
no  other  case  of  the  disease  has  occurred.  He  was  striker 
in  the  blacksmith-shop,  and  only  went  home  once  a  week 
to  see  his  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters.  Your  old 
friend,  Isaac,  of  the  same  family,  has  recovered  from  a  hard 
spell.  Kindest  remembrance  to  your  wife  and  all  the  chil- 
dren. Can't  say  now  when  I  can  be  at  Athens. 

As  ever,  most  truly  yours,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

The  speech  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  letter,  concern- 
ing the  merits  of  which  Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens  was  curious  to 
ascertain  the  opinion  of  Professor  Johnston,  was  that  deliv- 
ered before  the  Sophomore  declaimers,  at  Athens,  on  acca- 
sion  of  presenting  the  prizes  to  the  successful  competitors. 

The  canvass  which  Judge  Douglas  was  then  making — 
"stumping  for  dear  life" — was  the  celebrated  one  in  Illi- 
nois, between  himself  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  for  the  United 
States  Senatorship.  The  result  was  the  election  of  a  Dem- 
ocratic Legislature  and  the  return  of  Douglas  to  the  United 
States  Senate. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  R.  M.  Johnston.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  26,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  DICK — "Auld  lang  syne,"  when  you  and  I 
were  boys,  some  ill-natured  person  put  out  a  report  on  my 


T56  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKKTCH    OF 

old  uncle  Bird,  that  he  had  said  that  baptism  with  sand 
would  do  as  well  as  baptism  with  water.  The  old  fellow 
heard  of  it,  and  denounced  the  report  as  false ;  indeed,  he 
went,  in  the  glow  of  his  honest  wrath,  so  far  as  to  declare 
that  it  was  a  "d — d  lie."  Years  afterwards,  I  asked  him 
whether  he  had  used  the  terrible  epithet  which  I  have  just 
quoted.  I  shall  never  forget  the  grandeur  of  the  old  man 
as  he  rose  and  replied,  "Yes,  I  did;  and,  cousin  Linton, 
it  "iVas  a  d — d  lie — it  was  so  monstrous  a  lie  that  God  Al- 
mighty condemned  it  as  soon  as  it  was  uttered."  Now,  I 
have  brought  up  this  incident  in  the  life  of  a  good  man,  not 
for  the  sake  of  any  parallel  between  it  and  anything  which 
I  am  going  to  say,  but  simply  as  an  authority  for  a  little  bit 
of  "cussin,"  which  I  am  about  to  perpetrate,  and  which,  I 
think,  I  can  explain  away  as  effectually,  at  least,  as  he  ex- 
plained away  his.  The  remark  which  I  had  in  contempla- 
tion to  make,  and  which  I  do  now  utter,  is  simply  this: 
You  are  a  rfaw>icdma.n.  The  oft-quoted,  ever-to-bc-admired 
and  immortal  Shakspeare  said  (through  the  mouth  of  a 
character,  to  be  sure,  but  still  Shakspeare  said  it): 


Now,  you  and  1  have  been  for  sometime  "  laying  on  "  in 
scribbling  to  one  another,  and  you  have  been  the  "first" 
to  cry,  "Hold,  enough!  "  So,  on  the  authority  of  the  im- 
mortal bard,  you  arc  "damned;"  and,  on  the  authority  of 
a  great  man  in  Israel,  1  am  authori/.ed  to  pronounce  you  so. 
I  do  remember  me,  that,  in  some'  of  my  hasty  effusions,  I 
dropped  an  indiscreet  intimation,  to  the  effect  that  I  did  not 
expect  you,  in  this  the  season  ot  your  business  pressure,  to 
answer  all  my  scribblings;  but  surely  you  didn't  take  me  to 
be  in  earnest,  did  you?  I  thought  you  were  too  well  ac- 
quainted with  that  vile  old  sinner.  Human  Vanity,  not  to 
know  that  he  has  a  favorite  trick  of  covering  himself  with 
divers  transparent  pretensions  to  modest}-  and  humility. 
Besides,  1  said  I  did  not  expect  you  to  answer  all  my  scrib- 
blings, and  you  have  presumed  upon  this  to  answer  none. 
Why,  you  are  worse  than  Loren/.o  Dow  said  the  Calvinists 
were.  The  Scriptures  say,  "Come  unto  me  all  that  are 
wean","  etc.  ;  but  he  said  the  Calvinists  construed  this  to 
mean,  "Come  unto  me  a  part  of  ye,"  etc.  ;  and  hence,  his 


JUDHK  UNTON  STEPHENS.  157 

common  designation  of  them  was,  "The,  A — double  1 — a — 
part  people."  I  said  you  needn't  answer  all,  and  you  have 
construed  it  to  mean  that  you  needn't  answer  one  ;  hence, 
you  are  an  "A — double  1 — "  one  now;  and  so  you  are 
worse  than  the  Calvinists,  inasmuch  as  a  part  may  embrace 
more  than  "one;"  and  you  have,  therefore,  detracted 
more  than  they  did  from  the  natural  fullness  and  glory  of 
A — double  1 — all."  So  you  see  what  a  bad  fellow  you  are, 
and  how  fully  justified  I  am  in  following  old  uncle  Bird's 
example  in  dealing  with  your  case.  So  readeth  a  part  of 
the  first  chapter  of  the  book  of  "Cussin,"  according  to 
Bird,  Shakspeare  and  Dow.  Look  out  for  the  rest  of  it, 
unless  you  mend  your  ways. 

I  sat  down  with  the  intention  to  give  you  a  sketch  of  an 
amusing  scene  which  1  witnessed  a  few  days  ago  between 
two  of  our  lady  friends;  but  the  Dow  part  of  my  discourse 
was  not  anticipated  at  the  start,  and  has  run  it  to  too  great 
a  length  to  leave  room  for  anything  else ;  besides,  as  I  have 
written  so  long  a  letter,  with  absolutely  nothing  in  it,  I  have 
a  fancy  to  keep  it  undefiled,  even  to  the  end,  by  a  single 
semblance  of  anything  which  might  mar  the  beaut}'  of  uni- 
formity. The  only  exception  which  I  shall  allow  is  in  sub- 
scribing myself, 

Yours,  most  truly,  LINTON  STKPHKNS. 

[  From  I..  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  November  15,  1858. 

DEAR  BROTH KR— I  shall  probably 

not  return  home  from  Glasscock  before  going  to  Athens. 
I  have  seven  cases  to  represent  at  the  Supreme  Court,  if 
Gibson  should  give  me  the  brief  in  your  Burkhalter  case; 
and  1  am  defendant  in  error  in  all,  except  one  from  Hart — 
yes:  there  is  another  (making  the  eighth)  from  this  county, 
tried  by  Judge  Cabaniss,  where  I  am  for  plaintiff  in  error. 
1  am  also  under  a  sort  of  promise  to  Tom  Daniel  to  help 
him  argue  the  Pierce  Bailey  case;  but  I  think  I  shall  not  do 
it.  1  did  not  promise,  but  said  I  might  do  it,  or  something 
to  that  effect.  I  don't  know  anybody  for  whom  hanging 
would  be  so  good  as  for  old  P —  — ,  and  the  temptation 
is  very  strong  to  put  in  against  him.  It  seems  to  me  that 
I  am  obliged  to  gain  all  the  cases,  except  the  one  from 


158  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

Hart;  and  as  that  was  not  my  case  until  the  present  stage 
of  it,  I  believe  I  should  not  argue  it  but  for  one  considera- 
tion: it  would  be  too  bad  a  thing  for  the  court  to  allow  one 
man  to  gain  all  his  cases,  having  so  many ;  and  I  am  rather 
glad,  therefore,  of  one  bad  one  for  them  to  throw  off  on. 
That  one,  I  trust,  will  prove  a  safety-valve.  My  next 
weakest  case  is  a  new-trial  case,  from  Warren.  The  Judge 
granted  it;  but  I  am  afraid  they  may  reverse  him.  If  that 
were  my  only  case,  I  should  be  very  confident  of  their  sus- 
taining him ;  but  Pottle  is  against  me  in  it,  and  he  is  against 
me  in  several  others,  which  I  am  obliged  to  gain  and  he  to 
lose.  It  is,  therefore,  dangerous.  They  will  want  to  throw 
him  a  bone,  and  I  am  afraid  they  may  make  that  bone  out 
of  my  case 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  4,  1858. 

DEAR   BROTHER — Your  letter   in 

relation  to  Harry,  and  the  list  of  your  notes,  I  have  laid 
away  with  your  will.  Should  it  be  the  fortune  of  our  lives 
for  Harry  to  fall  to  my  care,  your  injunctions  shall  be  ob- 
served in  regard  to  him,  because  they  are  your  injunctions, 
and  because  my  own  estimate  of  Harry  is  not  below  yours. 
I  sympathize  most  deeply  in  the  vein  of  sadness  which  per- 
vades your  letter.  My  heart  was  very  full  when  I  left  your 
house,  and  I  felt  that  it  was  nearly  running  over.  1  was 
almost  on  the  point  of  telling  you,  as  we  lay  in  bed  the 
night  before,  that  I  felt  as  if  it  were  the  last  night  we  would 
ever  spend  together.  1  did  feel  so;  but  I  knew  you  were 
sad,  and  I  forebore  to  say  one  word  to  make  you  more  so. 
If  I  had  given  way  at  all,  the  dam  would  have  burst  and 
the  flood  swept  through 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  5,  1858. 

DEAR   BROTHER — I  have  often 

told  you  of  my  observation  about  things  going  in  streaks  or 
schools.  1  had  rather  a  striking  instance  of  it  the  day  I  left 
you.  I  bought  a  horse  once,  and  lent  him  to  Jimmy  Cox, 
at  his  request,  and  since  then,  I  don't  think  I  have  ever  had 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1  $9 

an  application  of  exactly  that  kind  until  Mary made 

hers.  Well,  I  gave  her  fifty  dollars  towards  buying  her  a 
horse,  the  morning  I  left  you.  Before  I  got  home,  I  met 

N P —      — ,  and  he  wanted  me  to  buy  him   a  horse; 

and  when  I  got  home,  I  found  a  letter  from  B B , 

wanting  me  to  buy  him  a  horse.  Wasn't  that  a  streak  of 
applications,  for  one  day,  in  the  single  article  of  horses? 

B B I  flatly  refused.      I    had  already  bought  a 

tract  of  land  and  put  him  on  it,  and  I  was  satisfied  that  he 
simply  wanted  me  to  maintain  him  in  idleness.  I  signified 
as  much  to  him  in  my  answer — though  not  in  the  same 
words  I  have  used  about  it  now — and  told  him  plainly  that 
I  had  done  quite  as  much  as  I  intended  to  do.  As  for 
N —  — ,  he  assured  me  that  what  he  wanted  with  a  horse 
was  to  move  him  to  Florida,  and  I  consented  to  oblige  him 
upon  the  idea  that  it  would  be  a  good  investment.  He  is  to 
have  the  horse  on  the  express  condition  that  if  he  does  not 
go  to  Florida,  (I  will,  however,  give  him  the  full  benefit  of 
substituting  any  other  place  as  far  off,)  the  horse  is  to  be 
taken  back.  In  this  adventure,  Mr.  Thomas  and  I  are  co- 
partners, entitled  to  equal  profits,  and  bound  to  bear  equal 

losses.      Mr.  Thomas  says  he  knows  that  N intends 

to  get  the  horse,  and  then  have  something  to  happen  to 
him,  so  he  can't  get  off;  and  it  was  he  who  insisted  on  the 
condition  about  returning  tire  horse.  He  long  ago  declared 

that  N should  never  have  another  cent  out  of  him ; 

but  when  I  proposed  the  horse-scheme,  he  said  I  had  come 
at  him  in  a  shape  that  was  irresistible,  and  he  immediately 
bethought  him  that  he  himself  had  an  old  mule  that  would 
precisely  answer  the  purpose.  The  reason  why  I  proposed 

the  matter  to  Mr.  Thomas  was,  that  N had  already 

clone  so,  as  he  informed  me,  and  his  request,  as  expressed 
to  me,  was,  that  Mr.  Thomas  and  I  jointly  should  furnish 
the  horse.  He  assured  me  that  if  we  would,  just  for  this 
one  time,  overlook  his  wrong-doing  towards  us,  (and  he  freely 
admitted  it  had  been  manifold  and  grievous,)  he  would  go 
"clean  off,"  and  never  be  any  further  trouble  to  any  of  us. 

So  I  confidently  expect  soon  to  see  N strike  for  the 

"  Land  of  Flowers,"  drawn  by  a  mule.  I  did  not  have  the 
heart  to  ask  him  about  the  efficacy  of  his  remedy  for  fits. 
Poor  fellow !  He  is  incapable  of  taking  care  of  himself,  and 
he  has  just  capacity  enough  to  prevent  anybody  else  from 


l6o  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

taking  care  of  him.  He  has  an  idea  that  he  is  a  badly  used 
man,  because  people  don't  divide  their  estates  with  him; 
and  if  it  were  done,  he  would  come  again  in  two  years  for 
another  division.  There  are  a  great  many  very  close  ap- 
proximations to  poor  N—  — ,  in  this  world;  but  he  is,  on 
the  whole,  about  the  poorest  specimen  of  his  class  that  1 
have  ever  encountered 

|  From    I..   S.   to  A.    II.  S.  | 

SPARTA,  December  14,   1858. 

DKAR  BROTIIKK — \Yhoop!  I  am  out  of  the  woods — my 
Answer  is  finished — a  long  explanatory  letter  to  Obadiah 
Gibson  is  finished — another  to  the  Governor,  and  another 
to  the  Attorney-General,  are  all,  all  finished,  and  now  lying 
before  me,  in  three  packages,  read}'  for  the  mail ;  and  1 
have  clone  it  all  in  one  day,  sure  enough,  as  1  said  I  would, 
if  1  could  get  a  fair  lick  at  it;  and  it  is  a  very  small  day's 
work  at  that.  The  Answer  contains  onlv  six  pages  of  this 
same  sized  paper  on  which  I  am  now  writing.  1  think  1  have 
packed  it  pretty  well;  and  my  Answer  almost  presents  the 
argument.  1  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  think  much  of  it,  for 
1  do  not.  It  is  up  to  the  case,  but  the  case  ain't  uu/c/i. 
When  1  got  to  the  close  of  the  last  sentence  above,  except 
l wo,  they  called  me  to  supper,  and  while  1  was  at  supper, 
Alfriend  came.  lie  has  just  gone,  and  it  is  now  9  o'clock. 
1  have  a  notion  of  going  to  bed  sooner  to-night  than  usual, 
but  how  it  may  turn  out  is  very  doubtful.  It  is  strange 
how  1  do  hate  to  go  to  bed,  and  how  little  I  do  sleep! 
Last  night,  the  clock  struck  one  before  1  got  to  sleep,  and 
1  had  then  been  in  bed  half  an  hour.  I  woke  just  after 
three,  and  lay  awake  until  1  heard  it  strike  six.  After  that, 
1  got  the  most  of  my  sleep.  Last  night  was  a  pretty  fail- 
sample  of  the  rest.  The  children  also  woke  last  night  while 
1  was  restless  and  wakeful;  but,  supposing1  that  every- 
body else  was  buried  in  profoundest  slumber,  little  Emm 
suddenly  struck  up  a  s<)/t£'.  I  never  heard  her  sing  before, 
and  1  thought  it  was  Claude,  who  is  quite  a  singer.  So  1 
called  Claude,  but  there  was  no  answer;  the  little  one 
turned  into  calling  her,  too — -"Cordy,"  (so  she  calls  her,) 
"  papa  call  you,  Cordy!"  and  she  soon  had  Claude,  and 
iiecky,  too,  awake  with  her.  No  light  was  struck,  how- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  l6l 

ever,  and  they  all  soon  again  subsided  into  silence  and 
sleep.  Not  so  I.  What  more  shall  I  write?  I  know  not, 
unless  I  pursue  the  present  theme  by  giving  you  some  of 
the  annoyances  which  keep  me  from  sleep,  or  wake  me 
from  it.  I  am  reminded  of  them  by  Sport's  squealing  a.\.  this 
moment,  and  in  the  saloon.  He  literally  squeals;  it  comes 
a  sudden,  sharp,  piercing  squeal,  which  \vould  infallibly 
wake  me,  though  it  doesn't  seem  to  affect  other  people  so. 
The  cause  of  it  is  pains  in  his  car.  It  is  very  annoying  to 
me,  but  my  pity  always  predominates  over  my  vexation. 
I  am  truly  sorry  for  the  poor  dog,  and  he  often  leads  me  to 
remember  poor  Rio,  too,  in  sorrow  and  pity.  Another  of 
my  evil  genii  is  William's  snoring.  I  can  sleep  under  one 
of  his  cannonades  about  as  well  as  I  could  if  a  saw-mill  was 
making  planks  out  of  my  body;  but  my  main  one  is  sleep- 
lessness. Oh,  the  miserable,  wakeful  hours  I  have  spent  in 
trying  to  drop  the  burden  of  the  day,  and  get  rid  of  thought 
in  the  blessed  oblivion  of  sleep !  And  then,  when  nature 
can  maintain  the  struggle  no  longer,  and  at  last  takes  refuge 
in  slumber,  how  brief  the  respite  often  is!  Dreams  come, 
and  sometimes  take  up  and  carry  on  the  weary  thoughts  of 
the  day,  or  introduce  strange  vagaries  of  their  own,  which 
are  often  not  less  tormenting;  but,  after  all,  the  dreams 
have  a  balancing  in  them  ;  for  some  of  them  are  far  sweeter 
than  sights  or  sounds  that  greet  me  during  the  day ;  some, 
too,  are  so  strange  as  to  entertain  me  afterwards  with  their 
unaccountable  whimsicalness.  I  dreamed,  for  instance,  a 
few  nights  ago,  that  you  and  I  were  dining  with  Judge 
Story — nobody  else  present.  He  brought  a  bottle  (which 
I  thought  was  wine,  of  course)  and  said,  "Here  is  a  bottle 
of  first-rate  dondy"  (that's  the  word,  "dondy, ")  and  I 
thought,  what  is  "dondy?"  but  you  immediately  said, 
"  Linton,  I  have  often  told  you  of  dondy,  and  now  you  must 
drink  some. "  I  thought  it  very  curious  that  you  should 
say  you  had  often  told  me  of  what  I  had  never  heard  men- 
tioned before  in  my  life ;  and,  still  thinking  it  was  some 
kind  of  wine  or  spirits,  I  thought  it  was  no  less  strange  that 
you  should  urge  me  (as  your  manner  did)  to  drink  it.  I 
tasted  it,  and  said  it  tasted  like  apple-jelly;  whereupon,  you 
and  the  Judge  laughed  very  heartily.  Why  you  laughed, 
I  never  knew ;  and,  to  this  hour,  I  am  utterly  unenlight- 
ened, by  dreams  or  other  agency,  as  to  what  "dondy"  is. 
16 


l62  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Such  was  that  dream — pointless  vagary — and  yet,  it  woke 
me ;  and  long  was  it  before  I  again  fell  to  sleep.  Life  is  a 
weary,  weary  thing  to  me !  But  I  am  going  to  bed  soon 
to-night;  and  so  good-bye. 

Affectionately.  LINTOX  STEPHENS. 

In  January,  1859,  Mr.  Stephens  went  on  to  Washington 
City  to  argue  the  case  of  Alabama  vs.  Georgia,  then  pend 
ing  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  From 
that  city,  he  writes  to  his  friend  Johnston: 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  13,  1859. 
MY  DEAR  DICK — Your  letter  of  the  8th  instant  was  re- 
ceived to-day,  saying  that  you  expected  to  return  to  Athens 
the  following  Monday.  Already,  no  doubt,  you  have  gone 
from  Sparta.  At  my  distance  from  both  places,  it  might 
seem  that  it  would  be  a  matter  of  indifference  with  me  at 
which  place  you  ma}'  be,  but  it  is  not  so.  It  is  a  sad  thing 
to  think  you  have  gone  away  from  the  place  that  knew  you 

so  well Has  the  obituary  notice  of 

your  mother  yet  appeared  in  the  Christian  Index?  I  sup- 
pose it  appeared  in  the  paper  which  ought  to  have  come  to 
Sparta  the  day  before  I  left  home,  but  which  had  not  come 
when  I  left.  I  expected  it  to  appear  in  the  paper  of  the 

week  before,  as  it  had  time  to  do,  but  it  did  not 

The  case  which  I  came  here  to  try  cannot  be  heard  until 
the  second  Monday  in  February,  and  ma}'  not  be  heard 
then.  The  opposite  side  have  proposed  to  me  that  as  their 
earliest  time,  and  it  will  be  accepted  by  our  side,  if  (iibson 
consents.  lie  is  not  here,  and  has  given  me  no  intimation 
of  an  intention  to  come.  1  find  that  the  time  of  hearing 
cases  of  original  jurisdiction  (in  which  only  States  and 
public  ministers  are  parties,  you  know)  is  fixed  by  content, 
out  of  deference  to  the  dignity  of  the  parties  concerned; 
and  I,  of  course,  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  agree  to  any  time 
without  consulting  my  associate.  1  am  almost  tempted  to 
say  that  I  will  not  argue  it  until  the  second  Monday  in  next 
December,  and  go  straight  home.  I  shall  remain  here  a  few 
days  longer  to  make  up  my  mind  on  that  point,  and  in  the 
hope  of  getting  some  money  from  home  wherewith  to  buy 
some  books.  Speaking  of  books :  I  have  not  bought  either  of 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  163 

the  two  novels  which  you  commended  to  me.  I  inquired 
in  all  the  book-stores  here  for  "  Debit  and  Credit,"  but  none 
of  them  had  it.  For  the  life  of  me,  I  could  not  think  of 
the  name  of  the  other  one;  and  so,  as  yet,  I  don't  know 
whether  they  have  Wilhelm  Meistcr's  "Apprenticeship"  or 
not.  When  I  finish  this  letter,  and  one  or  two  more  to 
those  at  home,  I  shall  take  another  excursion  among  the 
book-stores  to  find  out — -being  now  refreshed,  as  to  the 
name,  by  your  letter.  I  delivered  your  message  to  Kllic 
about  your  expectation,  founded  on  a  parting  promise,  that 
he  would  write  to  you.  He  said  he  had  a  distinct  recollec- 
tion of  the  parting  interview  between  him  and  you,  and  that 
his  understanding  was  that  you  were  to  write  first.  1  sim- 
ply replied,  that  when  a  fellow  is  caught  in  a  scrape  from 
his  own  rcmissness,  there  is  nothing  more  natural  than  for 
him  to  try  to  at  least  divide  the  blame  with  somebody  else 
by  getting  up  a  squabble — at  which  he  laughed — and  so  it 
passed  off  with  an  additional  remark  from  him,  that  he  had 
thought  of  writing  to  you  very  often,  and  had  wondered 
why  he  had  not  heard  from  you.  Your  letter  was  my  first 
news  of  Fed  Brooking's  death.  Poor  old  fellow!  There  is 
more  and  more  desolation.  Most  deeply  do  I  feel  for  his 
poor  old  mother;  she  is  now  ruined  and  forlorn.  Life  is 
despoiled  of  all  its  beauty,  and  her  little  remnant  of  exist- 
ence is  but  a  mockery  of  life.  Her  poor,  tottering  frame 
will  linger  among  us  yet  a  little  while,  but  her  heart  is  not 
here.  "  Her  heart  is  awa' !  her  heart  is  awa' !  "  May  God 
have  mercy  upon  the  stricken  hearts  everywhere  that  will 

mourn,  and  will  not  be  comforted! If  I  had 

been  elected  to  Congress  the  first  race,  I  should  have  liked 
it,  I  have  but  little  doubt ;  but  I  am  now  satisfied  that  it 
would  not  have  suited  me  since  then,  nor  ever  will  suit  me 

again.      Good-bye 

Yours,  most  truly,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[  From  I,.  S.  to  R.  M.  Johnston.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  22,  1859. 

MY  DEAR  DICK — I  am  glad  that  you  had  decided  to  send 
to  this  place  your  answer  to  my  last  letter  ;  for,  sure  enough, 
I  was  still  here  this  morning  to  receive  and  welcome  it.  It 
did  me  much  good,  because  it  breathes  such  strong  and 


164  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

friendly  interest  in  my  welfare Without 

an  accident,  I  shall  start  home  Monday  night  next.  Yes- 
terday, we  took  an  order  of  court,  setting  our  case  clown 
for  a  hearing  on  the  second  Monday  of  next  December.  I 
should  have  started  home  last  night  but  for  the  prospect 
of  spending  Sunday  at  the  dull  little  place,  called  Kings- 
ville,  in  South  Carolina.  The  weather  also  is  bad  for  trav- 
eling just  now.  There  was  a  great  fall  of  rain  here  yester- 
day; and,  in  consequence  of  it,  brother  expresses  some  ap- 
prehensions about  the  safety  of  the  railroads.  It  will,  how- 
ever, have  to  be  very  extraordinary  weather  which  detains 
me  longer  than  Monday  night — this  being  Saturday— so 
your  next  must  be  sent  to  Sparta — sent  home.  I  got  a 
letter,  last  night,  telling  me  that  my  children  were  well.  I 
have  been  disappointed  in  the  pleasure  of  my  sojourn  here, 
and  yet,  I  am  loth  to  leave.  Night  before  last,  I  heard  the 
famous  Piccoloinini.  She  is  a  good  singer,  but  her  chief 
charms  are  outside  of  her  singing:  it  is  her  beauty  and  her 
acting.  The  latter  is  admirable.  She  sang  a  little  English 
song — "I  Dreamt  I  dwelt  in  Marble  Halls,"  etc. — and  her 
acting  in  it  was  irresistible — coquettish  and  winning  in  a 
high  degree.  Her  pouting  was  capital.  I  was  pleased  with 
her  far  beyond  my  expectations,  and  beyond  the  pleasure 
I  ever  received  from  any  other  musical  wonder.  I  have 
been  to  see  Mrs.  Craig  twice  since  I  have  been  here  She 
is  staying  at  the  President's.  I  saw  Miss  Lane  both  times. 
I  like  her  very  much.  She  is  sensible,  modest,  and,  I 
should  think,  very  amiable 

In  May,  1859,  Judge  Charles  J.  McDonald,  in  conse- 
quence of  advancing  age  and  infirmity,  resigned  the  posi- 
tion he  occupied  and  adorned  on  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
Georgia.  Governor  Brown  appointed  Linton  Stephens  to 
fill  the  vacancy  thereby  occasioned.  He  was  the  youngest 
man  that  ever  sat  upon  the  bench  of  that  court  in  Georgia- 
he  had  not  completed  his  thirty-sixth  year ;  he  was  the 
youngest  lawyer — he  had  been  at  the  Bar  but  little  over 
thirteen  years;  and,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  competent  to 
pronounce  upon  the  subject,  the  ablest  Judge:  high  enco- 
mium ;  yet,  I  believe,  severely  just.  His  published  deci- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  165 

sions  are  models  of  logic — cogent,  compact,  Attic — the  per- 
fection of  judicial  eloquence.  But  his  claim  and  title  to  the 
character  of  a  great  judge  have  been  portrayed  by  a  pen — 
dipped  in  the  "Well  of  old  English,  undefiled  " — of  one 
whose  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject  he  handles — per- 
fect candor,  sharp,  critical  acumen,  and  rare  fitness,  in  all 
respects,  for  such  a  performance — will  relieve  the  tedium 
of  my  narrative :  I  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  obliging  kind- 
ness of  the  Hon.  Logan  E.  Bleckley,  long  the  learned  head 
of  the  Atlanta  Bar — now  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Georgia — for  the  following: 

ESTIMATE  OF  HON.  LINTON  STEPHENS  AS  A  JUDGE,  FOUNDED 
ON  HIS  JUDICIAL  OPINIONS,  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  GEORGIA  RE- 
PORTS. VOLS.  28,  29  AND  30: 

It  was  not  the  lot  of  Judge  Stephens  to  occupy  the  bench 
at  a  time  when  exceptionably  great  questions  were  pre- 
sented to  the  Supreme  Court  for  adjudication.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  the  points  that  came  before  him, 
taken  in  the  aggregate,  were  of  average  magnitude  or  mo- 
ment. He  delivered  not  a  single  opinion  on  the  principles 
of  Constitutional  law.  Only  three  times  did  he  have  occa- 
sion even  to  mention  the  Constitution — twice  in  discussing 
the  agreement  of  statutes  witii  their  titles,  and  once  in  the 
still  more  narrow  inquiry  as  to  what  term  oft1  e  court,  with 
reference  to  the  return  of  writs  of  error,  was  to  be  regarded 
as  the  first  term,  and  the  effect  of  failure  to  make  return  in 
due  season.  The  cases  with  which  he  dealt  were  such  only 
as  make  their  appearance  in  ordinary  times,  and  represent 
the  ordinary  current  of  judicial  business,  touching  contracts, 
wills,  crimes,  the  practice  of  the  courts,  and  the  duty  of 
officers.  He  was  thus  without  the  advantage  of  great  pub- 
lic questions  upon  which  to  found  a  reputation.  Neither 
was  he  long  enough  in  office  to  add  anything  to  his  judicial 
stature  by  the  mere  force  of  experience  and  continued  ser- 
vice. He  presided,  altogether,  but  a  little  more  than  one 
year,  havi'  '^  come  in  with  May  tern,  1859,  and  gone  out 
with  June  term,  1860.  What  mark  he  ma.de  as  a  judge  was 
due,  therefore,  to  what  he  was  when  he  came  to  the  bench — 


1 66  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

to  his  learning  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  sheer  fitness  for  judicial 
functions — not,  in  any  degree,  to  the  materials  on  which  he 
wrought,  or  to  long-continuance  in  labor.  His  earl}' opin- 
ions ar~e  quite  as  good  as  his  later  ones — the  first  as  good  as 
the  last.  Indeed,  he  was  ripe  and  ready  for  the  bench  at 
his  first  sitting,  and  needed  no  judicial  education.  lie  was 
not  a  pupil,  but  a  master. 

In  the  second  month  of  his  service,  a  case  was  decided 
by  a  majority  of  the  court  contrary  to  his  views  of  the  law; 
and  his  dissenting  opinion  (the  only  one  which  he  ever  had 
occasion  to  deliver)  is  a  model  of  strength  and  clearness. 
The  case  was  that  of  Hill  rs.  The  State,  reported  in  2<S  Ga. 
R.,  604;  and  the  rule  for  which  he  contended  was,  that  on 
an  indictment  for  murder,  charging  the  prisoner  with  the 
offense  as  principal  in  the  first  degree,  it  was  not  compe- 
tent to  convict  him  if,  in  fact,  he  was  guilt}"  as  a  principal 
in  the  second  degree.  He  insisted  that  there  is  a  substan- 
tial difference,  under  our  penal  code,  between  being  the 
actual  perpetrator  of  the  crime,  and  being  present,  aiding 
and  abetting  in  its  commission  by  another.  The  reasons 
for  his  dissent  from  the  judgment  of  his  learned  colleagues 
are  so  forcible  in  themselves,  and  stated  by  him  with  such 
overwhelming  power,  that  they  have  exerted  a  controlling 
influence  over  subsequent  decisions  of  the  court.  See  36 
Ga.  R. ,  222;  40  Ga.  R.,  120.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  going  too 
far  to  say  that  the  majority  opinion,  in  so  far  as  it  conflicts 
with  his,  stands  virtually  overruled,  and  that  the  principle 
of  his  opinion  is  now  established  as  law.  In  announcing 
his  conclusion,  that  the  verdict  ought  to  be  set  aside, 
there  is  a  degree  of  pith  and  point  in  his  language  quite 
characteristic:  "The  verdict  is  not  the  tnit/i.  I  do  not 
know  what  more  can  be  said  against  any  verdict."  An- 
other able  opinion,  which  he  delivered  in  the  same  month, 
was  upon  the  question,  whether  a  deed  to  laud,  made  in  the 
face  of  adverse  possession,  was  void?  On  this  point,  there 
had  been  earl}'  decisions  in  the  affirmative,  and  later  ones 
in  the  negative — the  former  on  the  line  of  Judge'  Lumpkin's 
opinion,  and  the  latter  on  the  line  of  Judge  Benning's. 
Judge  Stephens  agreed  with  Judge  Lumpkin,  and  thus  re- 
stored the  earlv  rule  ;  but  he  placed  his  judgment  entirely 
on  the  common  law,  and  not  at  all  on  the  adoption  of  the 
statute  of  32  Henry  V11I.  He  was  not  the  first  judge  to 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPITKXS.  1 67 

suggest  the  application  of  the  common  law  to  the  question, 
but  was  the  first  to  turn  the  statute  of  Henry  out  of  the 
dispute.  The  unanswerable  argument  of  Judge  Bcnning 
against  the  application  of  that  statute  to  the  condition  and 
circumstances  of  our  Colonial  population,  commanded  his 
concurrence  and  frank  acknowledgment ;  but  he  contended, 
nevertheless,  that  conveyances  made  by  a  claimant,  out  of 
possession,  while  an  adverse  claimant  was  in  possession, 
were  void  by  a  rule  of  the  common  law,  and  that  the  rule 
(not  as  modified  by  the  statute,  but  the  naked  rule  itself) 
came  over  with  our  ancestors,  and  was  applicable  to  their 
situation.  In  a  few  pointed  sentences,  he  demonstrated 
the  policy  of  discouraging,  in  a  new  country,  trade  in  occu- 
pied lands,  under  circumstances  where  immediate  posses- 
sion could  not  be  given  to  the  purchaser,  and  of  inducing 
purchasers  to  push  out  into  vacant  territory  and  get  land 
itself,  instead  of  the  mere  chance  for  it  at  the  end  of  a  pro- 
tracted and  expensive  litigation.  Sec  29  Ga.  R.,  121. 

Judge  Benning,  who  was  so  well  prepared  on  the  statute 
of  Henry,  took  time  to  consider  before  settling  down  into 
a  final  position  on  this  theory  in  reference  to  the  common 
law.  After  examination,  he  hurled  at  it  his  powerful  dis- 
senting opinion,  in  Gresham  i>s.  Webb  and  Williams,  29 
Ga.  R.,  320;  but  the  doctrine  stood  as  established,  until 
changed  by  act  of  the  Legislature.  From  the  time  of  this 
last  case  until  the  present,  it  has  never  been  made  a  ques- 
tion before  the  Supreme  Court,  whether,  prior  to  the  new 
statute,  a  deed  executed,  pending  an  adverse  holding,  was  or 
was  not  void.  From  this  circumstance,  the  inference  may  be 
drawn  that  the  argument  of  Judge  Stephens  was  convincing 
to  the  professional  mind  of  the  State,  and  that  even  the 
great  ability  of  Judge  Benning  failed  to  supply  the  logic 
and  learning  requisite  for  successful  reply. 

In  January,  1860,  was  decided  the  case  of  Jones  vs.  The 
State,  29  Ga.  R.,  594 — -the  case,  of  all  others,  which  will 
probably  be  the  longest  associated  with  the  name  and  fame 
of  Judge  Stephens.  The  main  question  was,  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  rule  that  drunkenness  is  no  excuse  for  crime  ; 
and  Judge  Stephens,  in  the  splendid  opinion  which  he  de- 
livered for  a  majority  of  the  court,  (himself  and  Judge 
Lumpkin,)  undertook  to  show  how  and  why  drunkenness, 
as  a  fact,  may  be  allowed  to  avail  the  accused,  even  upon 


1 68  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

the  question  of  malice,  without  trenching,  in  the  least,  upon 
that  rule,  properly  understood.  That  drunkenness  might 
be  urged  to  disprove  the  physical  constituents  of  crime,  was 
probably  never  doubted ;  but  with  reference  to  the  mental 
constituents,  the  distinction  between  ascertaining  them  and 
excusing  them  has  not  always  been  discerned.  It  \vas  the 
great  achievement  of  Judge  Stephens,  in  this  opinion,  to 
bring  out  that  distinction,  and  display  it  in  the  broadest 
legal  daylight.  Until  there  is  a  case  of  crime  ascertained  in 
all  its  elements — mental  as  well  as  physical — there  is  noth- 
ing to  excuse;  and  so  long  as  the  process  is  one  of  investi- 
gation, and  not  of  palliation,  the  drunkenness  of  the  ac- 
cused, just  as  any  other  fact,  may  be  relevant  on  either 
branch,  or  on  both  branches,  of  the  alleged  criminal  action. 
Not  to  screen  the  accused  from  responsibility  for  what  he- 
has  done,  but  to  find  out  exactly  what  his  deed  was,  and 
how  to  grade  it  in  the  scale  of  legal  offenses,  which  scale  is 
precisely  the  same  for  all,  whether  drunk  or  sober,  is  the 
purpose  for  which  drunkenness  is  to  be  considered.  What- 
ever demerit  there  is  in  drunkenness,  it  is  not  to  be  stripped 
of  the  protection  which  everything  in  God's  universe  is  en- 
titled to  claim — the  protection  of  truth.  If,  in  very  truth, 
there  was  a  crime,  notwithstanding  the  drunkenness,  then 
should  drunkenness  count  as  nothing;  but  if  the  fact  of 
drunkenness  shows  there  was  no  crime,  or  would  have  been 
none  if  the  same  mental  and  physical  elements  had  coin- 
cided without  the  drunkenness,  then  should  the  drunken- 
ness, as  evidence,  though  not  as  excuse,  furnish  a  ground 
of  acquittal. 

Without  reading  carefully  the  opinion  of  Judge  Stephens 
in  this  case,  it  is  quite  impossible  for  any  person  to  take 
his  full  measure  as  a  judge.  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
half  a  dozen  of  his  contemporaries  on  the  bench  could  have 
written  that  opinion. 

Two  classes  of  persons  arc,  however,  liable  to  misunder- 
stand it,  and  misconceive  its  whole  scope  and  bearing: 
these  are  the  very  inattentive  and  the  very  timid.  If  it  is 
not  read  with  attention,  it  will  break  into  fragments;  and, 
to  be  comprehended,  being  a  connected  argument,  its  con- 
nections must  be  preserved.  So,  if  it  be  read  by  one  in  a 
nervous  state  of  apprehension,  as  to  the  d-'.nger  of  tender- 
ness to  drunken  men,  it  will  probably  fail  of  its  due  effect, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  169 

through  seeming,  to  a  mind  in  such  a  state,  more  tender  to 
them  than  it  really  is. 

The  capacity  of  Judge  Stephens  to  construe  conveyances, 
and  apply  the  dry  law  of  estates,  may  be  seen  by  reference 
to  the  following  cases:  Brown  vs.  Weaver,  28  Ga.  R. ,  377; 
Adams  vs.  Guerrard,  29  Ga.  R.,  651  ;  Mason  vs.  Deese,  30 
Ga.  R.,  308;  Burton  vs.  Black,  2^638;  Tennille  vs.  Ford, 
id  707 ;  and  Springer  vs.  Congleton,  id  9/6.  The  opinion 
in  Burton  vs.  Black  is  especially  able,  and,  both  in  sub- 
stance and  in  style,  would  have  satisfied  Lord  Coke  himself. 
There  is  reason  to  think  that,  in  the  estimation  of  Judge 
Stephens,  that  opinion  ranked  above  any  other  which  he 
ever  delivered — not  excepting  even  the  one  in  Jones  vs. 
The  State.  An  example  of  an  interesting  question,  well 
treated,  in  less  than  two  pages,  is  seen  in  Springer  vs.  Con- 
gleton. Very  many  of  the  minor  opinions  are  well  worthy 
of  notice,  though  but  few  of  them  can  be  commented  on  here. 
Striking  sentences  occur  in  several,  not  to  quote  some  of 
which  would  be  to  omit  touches  essential  to  accuracy  in 
drawing  the  portrait  which  this  paper  is  designed  to  reflect. 
In  one  case,  he  says :  "  We  think  there  was  a  capital  judge, 
but  no  law."  29  Ga.,  56.  In  another:  "Argumentative- 
ness  may  be  a  good  objection  against  an  answer,  but  it  will 
scarce!}' serve  against  a  speech;"  and  "He  who  has  rea- 
sons for  his  judgment  is,  at  least,  as  good  a  witness  as  he 
who  has  none."  Id  82.  In  another:  "Communications 
between  husband  and  wife  are  protected  forever.  This  is 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  that  perfect  confidence  and 
trust  which  should  characterize  and  bless  the  relation  of 
man  and  wife.  Each  must  feel  that  the  other  is  a  safe  and 
sacred  depository  of  all  secrets  ;  and  the  protection  which  the 
law  holds  over  the  dead  is  the  very  source  of  greatest  secu- 
rity to  all  the  living.  "  *  Id  470.  In  another :  ' '  Estates,  like 
everything  else  in  life,  are  generally  better  off  in  the  hands 
of  their  friends  than  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies."  Id  519. 


*This  sentence  occurs  in  the  judgment  of  the  court,  pronounced  in  the 
case  of  Lingo  i's.  The  State  ;  he  was  indicted  for  murder.  Those  present 
when  it  was  delivered  can  never  forget  how  Judge  Stephens  thrilled  the 
audience,  by  the  awful  grandeur  of  his  manner,  when  he  uttered  the 
words:  "Thank  God!  there  is  no  running  law  in  Georgia!"  The  sen- 
tence does  not  appear  in  the  printed  dec'sion. — ED, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

In  another:  "The  law  docs  allow  the  owner,  overseer  or 
employer  of  the  slave  to  furnish  him  such  quantity  as  the 
oii'iier,  overseer  or  employer  may  deem  beneficial  to  the  slave's 
health;  but  the  law  has  not  done  so  foolish  a  thing1  as  to 
put  this  same  discretion  in  him  who  sells  the  spirits,  nor 
can  it  be  put  there  by  delegation  from  him  who  has  it.  If 
it  were  placed  there,  the  quantity  supplied  would  generally 
depend  much  less  upon  its  reasonableness  or  healthfulness 
than  upon  the  amount  of  money  the  slave  might  happen  to 
have.  How  man}' '''vendors  would  consider  that  a  purchaser 
was  transcending  the  limits  of  reason,  or  health,  so  Ions, 
he  was  paying  for  all  he  got?"  Id  522.  In  another: 
was  said  that  any  girl,  with  or  without  an  estate,  has  a  ri 
to  get  relieved  of  a  toothache,  and  make  her  guardian  pay 
for  it.  If  this  doctrine  is  conceded  in  favor  of  gallantry, 
(and  it  can  hardly  be  conceded  on  any  other  score,)  still, 
some  care  must  be  taken  not  to  make  the  guardian  pa}'  for 
anything  but  relieving  the  toothache.  Now,  it  is  very  pos- 
sible that  the  toothache,  in  this  young  lady's  case,  could 
have  been  relieved,  as  the  toothache  of  her  grandmother 
had  no  doubt  often  been  relieved,  by  a  plug  of  cotton  with 
a  little  laudanum  on  it,  instead  of  fine  plugs  of  gold."  30 
Ga.,  35.  In  another:  "Surely  there  ought  to  be  some 
compensation  for  the  suffering  endured.  The  pain  from 
the  wounds  must  have  been  great,  and  the  dread  of  the  ap- 
proaching collision  between  the  two  engines,  though  brief, 
must  have  been  terrible.  Mental  agony  has  been  known 
to  turn  a  head  gray  in  a  night,  and  gray  hairs  are  often  but 
the  effervescence  of  some  great  mental  anguish."  Id  146. 
In  another:  "Proof  of  hand-writing  is,  in  its  nature,  the 
identification  of  an  acquaintance."  Id  476.  In  another: 
"  What  more  verity  is  there  in  a  gesture,  or  exclamation  of 
surprise,  than  in  plain  words,  expressing  the  same  emotion? 
It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  distinguish  this  from 
the  case  of  spoken  language  ;  it  is  acted  language — the  one 
being  quite  as  voluntary  as  the  other."  29  Ga.,  285.  In 
another:  "A  privy  in  estate  is  a  successor  to  the  same 
estate — not  to  a  different  estate  in  the  same  property."  Id 
374.  In  another:  "The  question  1  ask  is,  whether  all 
promises  on  which  the  parties  rely  must  not  be  in  the  writ- 
ing— I  do  not  mean  representations  f  These  last  relate  to  the 
truth  of  existing  or  past  facts,  and  not  to  engagements  in  the 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I/ 1 

future — but  promises,  if  they  are  to  have  any  efficacy,  must 
have  it  in  the  future."  Id  461.  In  another:  "The  pen- 
alty falls  not  on  him  who  shoots  and  kills,  but  on  him  who 
shoots  and  misses.  Its  penalty,  therefore,  seems  to  be 
leveled  at  bad  shooting. "  28Ga.,395.  In  another:  "But 
it  was  said  they  had  ceased  to  be  counsel  when  they  were 
served.  The  reply  is,  that  under  the  statute  prescribing 
service  on  attorneys,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  service, 
they  couldnt  cease. "  29  Ga.,  29. 

The  opinion  in  Bowie  vs.  Maddox  and  Goldsmith,  29  Ga., 
285,  deserves  attention  as  a  specimen  of  carving  all  the  law 
in  the  case,  as  it  were,  into  slices,  with  a  few  strokes  of  the 
knife,  and  making  an  end  of  the  matter  at  once.  Three 
points  are  not  only  ruled,  but  reasoned  out  exhaustively,  in 
less  than  a  page  and  a  quarter.  Roddy  and  Wife  vs.  Cox, 
id  298,  shows  how  the  body  of  a  case  can  be  squeezed  until 
the  points  protrude  like  broken  bones.  Prince  and  Stafford 
vs.  The  State,  30  Ga.,  27,  shows  as  tight  a  grip — not  used 
for  exposing  points,  but  for  deciding:  "It  may  be  that  a 
riot  was  brewing ;  but,  if  so,  Prince  spoiled  the  riot  by  an 
assault  and  battery."  Id. 

Among  the  most  excellent  opinions  is  that  in  Lively  i'S. 
Harwell,  29  Ga.,  509,  touching  the  revocation  and  probate 
of  wills.  In  stating  the  views  of  himself  and  fudge  Ben- 
ning,  on  a  point  not  directly  in  judgment — namely,  whether 
the  simple  revocation  of  a  subsequent  will  revives  a  prior 
revoked  one — lie  makes  a  presentation  of  the  reason  for 
holding  the  negative,  that  ought  to  settle  the  question 
for  all  time  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Nothing  can  possibly 
be  more  conclusive. 

Though  he  delivered  but  one  dissenting  opinion,  proper, 
he  differed  with  a  majority  of  the  court  upon  one  of  the 
points  in  another  case- — that  of  Kctor  rs.  Welsh  and  Ector. 
29  Ga. ,  443.  The  point  was  one  of  practice,  and  turned 
on  the  construction  of  a  statute  which  declared  that,  unless 
exceptions  to  interrogatories  and  the  answers  of  witnesses, 
examined  under  commission,  were  taken  and  determined 
before  submitting  the  case  to  the  jury,  the  testimony  should 
be  received,  subject  only  to  objections  for  irrelevancy.  He 
contended  that  hearsay  was  to  be  treated  as  irrelevant  tes- 
timony, and  was  open  to  objection  at  any  time  on  that 
ground.  The  argument  which  he  made  on  this  line,  drawn 


1/2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

from  the  object  and  purpose  of  the  statute,  is  very  cogent, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  anything  to  countervail  it,  from  the 
other  members  of  the  court,  seems  absolutely  convincing. 

In  still  another  case — Mason  vs.  Deese,  30  Ga.,  308 — 
each  one  of  the  judges  had  his  separate  views,  and  the 
judgment  was  formed  by  Judge  Stephens  yielding  to  the 
course  favored  by  Judge  Lumpkin,  which  was  a  kind  of 
middle  ground.  The  question  was  on  the  construction  of 
a  marriage  settlement,  and  related  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
husband  from  the  property  after  the  wife's  death.  Judge 
Stephens  thought  he  was  excluded;  Judge  Lyon  thought 
he  was  not;  and  Judge  Lumpkin  thought  it  was  not  clear 
either  way,  on  the  lace  of  the  instrument,  and  that  the 
paper  should  be  referred  to  a  jury  for  construction  in  the 
light  of  the  surrounding  circumstances.  This  was  done. 
In  all  other  instances  of  a  divided  court,  the  concurring 
judges  were  Stephens  and  Lumpkin — the  dissenting  judge, 
Benning  or  Lyon. 

The  whole  number  of  opinions  delivered  by  Judge  Ste- 
phens is  one  hundred  and  fifty-three ;  and,  assuming  that 
his  colleagues  each  delivered  as  many,  the  cases  in 
which  he  presided  would  number  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty.  One  hundred  and  thirty  of  his  opinions  contain  no 
citation  of  authority.  Those  citing  authority  refer  chiefly 
to  the  Georgia  Reports;  Blackstone  is  ciiecl  three  times; 
Jarman  on  Wills,  twice;  Story  on  Agency,  twice;  Adams 
on  Ejectment,  once ;  and  an  English  Common  Law  Report, 
once.  He  respected  authority,  but  the  use  he  had  for  it 
was  as  a  guide  to  principles — not  as  a  prop  on  which  to  rest 
his  judgments.  When  the  principles  were  found,  he  rested 
his  judgment  on  tlicni,  and  not  on  the  authorities  that  had 
led  to  their  discovery.  When  he  could  render  a  legal  rea- 
son, he  preferred  to  state  the  reason  itself  rather  than  cite 
the  volumes  and  pages  from  which  he  had  drawn  it.  He 
thus  gratified  his  taste  for  brevity  and  directness;  for  he 
had  the  power  of  condensing  the  substance  of  many  au- 
thorities into  a  few  sentences;  and,  I  doubt  not,  he  was 
averse  to  that  appearance  of  judicial  pedantry  which  be- 
longs to  parading  books  and  eases  in  long  strings  of  cita- 
tion. I  am  tempted  to  think  that  he  must  have  prescribed 
to  himself  some  very  rigid  rule  on  th~  subject;  for  there  is 
nothing  more  striking  than  the  extreme  rareness  of  his  di- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  173 

rect  appeals  to  authority ;  yet,  he  made  calls  for  it  more 
than  once,  not  satisfied  with  what  had  been  produced.  See 
29  Ga.,  310,  449,  465,  469,  470.  His  precise  position  with 
reference  to  precedents  may  be  understood  by  quoting  from 
his  opinions.  In  one  case,  he  says:  "I  thought,  and  still 
think,  that  the  case  is  not  within  that  statute,  upon  a  sound 
and  safe  construction  of  it ;  but  my  colleagues  informed  me 
that  a  different  construction  had  prevailed  in  the  courts  for 
a  great  number  of  years,  and  with  entire  uniformity,  to  the 
extent  of  their  knowledge  on  the  subject.  I  was  not  pre- 
pared to  dispute  it,  and,  therefore,  acquiesced  in  what 
seemed  to  be  established  by  authority."  30  Ga.,  8.  In 
another  case,  in  refusing  to  interfere  with  a  former  decision 
of  the  court,  he  says:  "Without  considering  its  original 
propriety,  the  decision  ought  to  be  maintained  noiv.  It  was 
made  nine  years  ago,  and  attracted  the  universal  attention 
of  the  profession  at  the  time.  The  Legislature,  with  full 
knowledge  of  the  decision  for  nine  years,  not  having  changed 
the  law  declared  by  it,  may  fairly  be  considered  as  having 
acquiesced  in  it.  The  great  body  of  the  common  law  derives 
its  authority  from  the  decisions  of  courts  and  legislative  ac- 
quiescence in  them."  Id 232.  In  another  case :  "Wheth- 
er the  rule  be  a  reasonable  one  or  not  is  not  the  question ; 
it  is  too  firmly  fixed  in  the  law  to  be  disturbed  by  courts. 
It  is  a  case  for  the  Legislature  only."  Id  280.  But,  in  his 
estimation,  there  were  two  classes  of  precedents — one  of 
them  strong  and  the  other  very  feeble.  On  page  104,  of 
the  29th  Georgia  Reports,  he  says:  "A  decision,  pro- 
nounced upon  full  argument  and  consideration,  is  justly  en- 
titled to  great  weight — indeed,  to  a  controlling  influence  on 
subsequent  decisions;  but  such  decisions  as  this  court,  from 
the  nature  of  its  organization,  is  sometimes  obliged  to  ren- 
der, without  argument  and  on  short  consideration,  ought, 
in  my  judgment,  to  carry  but  slight  authority  for  subse- 
quent decisions."  His  view  of  the  relation  of  principle  to 
precedent  is  admirably  stated  in  the  same  volume  on  page 
515:  "  Where  a  principle  is  sound,  it  ought  to  be  carried  to 
all  strictly  analogous  cases,  unless  stringent  authority  for- 
bids ;  but  if  the  principle  be  unsound,  analogy  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  carry  it  to  a  single  case  beyond  the  impera- 
tive demands  of  authority — the  cases  in  which  it  has  been 
already  planted  by  decisions." 


174  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

The  legal  force  and  literary  excellence  of  his  opinions  are 
so  interwoven  that  they  strike  the  attention  in  almost  equal 
degree.  He  had  the  grace,  as  well  as  the  power,  of  logic; 
his  strength  was  chaste  and  elegant.  Never  ornate,  but 
always  correct,  he  makes  the  impression  of  an  artist  who  is 
so  masterly  in  drawing  that  he  has  no  use  for  colors.  He 
simply  engraves — never  paints.  That  his  mind  was  sharp 
without  being  narrow,  and  broad  without  being  blunt,  con- 
stituted, I  think,  his  great  intellectual  characteristic.  When 
he  concentrated,  he  did  not  con  tract ;  and  when  he  expanded, 
he  did  not  become  vague.  His  thoughts  moved,  with  equal 
vigor  and  accuracy,  inward  to  the  very  center,  or  outward 
to  the  very  circumference.  He  could  both  grasp  and  pierce  ; 
he  seized  his  logical  prey,  and  then  slaughtered  it.  However 
extended  the  outlines  of  his  subject,  he  reached  out  to  them 
in  all  directions,  and  penetrated  every  inward  part.  I  wen 
his  briefest  opinions  are  exhaustive.  The  beginning  and 
the  end  may  be  ever  so  close,  but  you  feel  that  what  lies 
between  them  is  ail  that  should  have  been  interposed — that 
greater  fullness  would  have  been  artificial  cramming,  and 
not  natural  growth.  There  is  a  staid  relevancy  in  all  he 
writes — no  straying  into  sentiment,  and  no  swelling  into 
passion.  You  would  not  know,  from  anything  he  has  re- 
corded, that  he  had  any  hopes  or  fears,  any  pit}',  any  anger, 
any  indignation- — or  that  he  knew  of  any  abuses  to  correct, 
or  any  reforms  to  introduce.  He  champions  no  cause,  no 
class,  and  attacks  nothing  but  error  in  the  record.  The 
prominent  moral  trait  which  he  discloses  to  us  is  love  of 
truth,  evincing,  in  himself,  perfect  truthfulness  of  character. 
He  was  genuine,  through  and  through — no  counterfeit — no 
pretender — no  humbug. 

Such  a  man  was  fit  and  worthy  to  preside  in  an}'  court; 
and  had  he  made  judicial  administration  the  chief  labor  of 
his  life,  he  would  have  gone  down  to  posterity  as  a  very 
illustrious  judge. 

L.  K.  BI.KCKI.KV. 

When  Mr.  Stephens  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Just- 
ice of  the  Supreme  Court,  one  partisan  gazette  in  the  State- 
expressed  strong  dissatisfaction  thereat;  the  burthen  of 
complaint  and  criticism  was  "the  atrocious  crime  of  being 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1/5 

a  young  man,"  as  the  elder  Pitt  said  in  his  reply  to  Wai- 
pole. 

One  person  of  the  legal  profession,  commenting  on  the 
appointment  and  the  appointee,  said,  in  language  he  deemed, 
doubtless,  classical,  but  which  "Cosby"  certainly  consid- 
ered coarse:  "Stephens  is  a  leather-headed  fop." 

Professor  Johnston  furnished  to  another  newspaper,  in 
vindication  of  the  prudence  and  propriety  of  Governor 
Brown's  action,  "the  piece "  alluded  to  in  the  following 
letter: 

SPARTA,  June  4,  1859. 

DEAR  DICK — The  date  at  which  I  am  actually  writing  is 
the  loth;  but  I  preserve  the  caption,  which  I  truly  dated 
the  4th,  in  order  that  you  may  see  the  beginning  of  a  good 
intention,  which  broke  down  sadly  early  on  the  road.  I 
wrote  "Dear  Dick,"  supposing  that  I  had  plenty  to  say, 
but  in  truth  not  a  word  could  I  summon  to  my  aid.  I  was 
lazy — incontinently  lazy,  as  the  malicious  world  would  say — 
but  I,  understanding  the  matter  much  better  than  the  world, 
only  choose  to  say  that  I  was  dull,  heavy  and  stupid ;  and, 
to  confess  the  truth,  I  am  not  much  better  off  now.  .  .  . 

Dick,  your  piece  about  me  is  very  kind  and  very  hand- 
some;  but  I  do  believe  there  is  hardly  more  than  one  or 
two  other  men  in  the  world  who  would  have  laid  it  on  s& 
thick.  It  was  just  like  you  ;  but  I  am  perfectly,  unaffect- 
edly sincere  in  saying  that  I  believe  you  said  more  for  me 
than  I  deserve.  I  think  5-011  are  in  a  woful  minorit5r  in  5'our 
opinions  of  me — I  mean,  in  the  extent  to  which  \rou  go. 
Everybody  knows  who  wrote  it.  The  initials,  of  course, 
give  a  read}'  clue  to  the  authorship ;  but  I  do  believe,  Dick, 
that  it  has  stronger  ear-marks  than  the  initials — and  eveiy- 
bod}7  would  have  known  it  aii5'how.  One  thing  surprised 
me  a  little:  and  that  was  the  exactness  with  which  5-011 
stated  facts  in  m\r  histoiy.  I  didn't  suppose  that  some  of 
the  things  5'ou  mention  had  made  any  abiding  impression 
on  the  mind  of  anybody.  Your  facts  will  do;  but  when  it 
comes  to  5-0111"  opinions  and  judgments,  let  me  sa}r,  that  if 
5'ou  are  ever  called  on  to  make  affidavit  to  them,  I  beg  5'ou 
to  qualify,  very  decidedly,  with  the  legal  phrase,  "Accord- 


176  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

ing  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,"  and  especially 
your  "belief;"  for  truly,  I  believe,  in  this  case,  your  faith 
is  very  superior  to  your  knowledge.  I  feel  as  if  you  had 
stuck  a  false  label  on  me ;  and  I  feel  very  much  like  a  pre- 
tender, unless  I  proclaim,  as  I  go  along,  that  yon  have  done 
it,  and  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  it,  and  don't  believe  in 
it.  But,  by  the  way,  was  ever  Wirt  a  judge?  I  think 
not ;  but  I  may  be  mistaken.  I  see  that  Gaskill,  of  the 
Atlanta  Intelligencer,  gives  the  piece  his  indorsement  very 
heartily,  from  his  knowledge  of  yon ;  and  I  see,  also,  that 
he  says  the  Opposition  Griffin  paper  "has  been  pitching 
into  me  in  a  very  uncalled-for  and  unkind  manner."  I  don't 
mind  that;  for  I  don't  know  the  fellow,  and  the  best  part 
of  it  is,  he  doesn't  know  me.  He  said  he  understood  that 

Judge  II ,  when  the  news  of  my  appointment  reached 

Newnan,  said  I  was  a  "leather-headed  fop."  Cosby  was 
mighty  mad  about  it.  The  fact  is,  the  old  fellow  turned 
pale  when  he  told  me  about  it.  He  seemed  in  much  better 
spirits,  and  took  a  new  and  brighter  view  of  the  subject 
when  he  saw  me  laugh  and  make  merry  over  it.  If  the 
Judge  had  contented  himself  with  the  "leather-headed,"  he 
might  have  hurt  me  ;  but  when  he  stuck  on  the  "  fop,"  the 
thing  became  preposterous.  That  showed  malice;  and  I 
know  he  was  speaking  not  from  knowledge,  but  from  envy. 
Malice,  like  ambition,  often,  and  most  generally,  overleaps 
itself.  A  moderate  thrust  might  have  gone  home;  but  the 
very  fury  of  the  blow  carried  it  over  my  head.  "When  he 
calls  me  a  "leather-headed  fop,"  I  laugh  at  him;  but  if  he 
had  simply  called  me  "leather-headed,"  I  suspect  I  should 
feel  inclined  to  knock  him.  You  remember  the  anecdote  of 
Mr.  Petigru:  When  a  fellow  called  him  a  liar,  he  passed  it 
by  as  a  thing  nobody  would  believe;  but  when  the  fellow 
said  he  was  a  "  d — d  old  Federalist,"  he  knocked  him  down  ; 
for  he  said  he  didn't  know  but  what  some  people  might  be 
d — d  enough  fools  to  believe  it 

The  following  reminiscences,  furnished  by  Professor  John- 
ston, give  an  insight  into  the  milder  features  of  Mr.  Stephens' 
character:  his  pure  and  heart}'  domestic  affections  ;  his  true 
and  rare  social  virtues  ;  his  high  and  delicate  appreciation 
of  the  offices  of  friendship,  and  of  the  more  sacred  relations 
and  duties,  whereof  Home  is  the  endeared  exemplification : 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I// 

PEN  Lucv,  WAVERLY,  Mo.,  October  17,  1873. 
MY  DEAR  COLONEL — I  have  been  thinking-  of  your  re- 
quest that  I  should  send  you  some  "reminiscences"  of  our 
departed  friend,  Linton  Stephens.      I  hardly  know  where  to 
begin,  and  what  are  the  things  most  suitable  to  speak  about 

o  o  i 

in  the  case  of  such  a  man  as  Linton  Stephens.  If  I  could 
be  with  you,  and  we  could  have  time  for  a  long  talk,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  I  could  interest  you  with  many  anecdotes  of 
his  private  life,  and  then  you  might  afterwards  so  frame 
them  as  to  make  them  interesting  to  the  public  in  your 
forthcoming  memoir.  I  can  scarcely  hope  to  do  so  in  the 
limited  time  at  my  disposal  for  this  purpose. 

But  I  conclude  to  send  you  a  short  sketch  as  I  knew  him 
at  lioinc.  I  do  this  more  readily,  because,  with  all  my  ad- 
miration for  the  position  which  he  held  in  public,  it  was 
while  lie  was  at  Jiouic  that  I  admired  him  most.  Nor  was 
this  great  admiration  due  only,  or  mostly,  to  our  long  inti- 
mate, and  never-broken,  and  never-interrupted  friendship. 
Such  a  friendship,  indeed,  gave  me  opportunities  superior 
to  those  of  most  men,  even  among  his  neighbers,  of  seeing 
and  knowing  what  he  was  in  private  ;  but  had  I  been  less 
intimate  with  him,  I  could  not  have  failed,  while  living  so 
long  in  his  neighborhood,  to  see  and  know  enough  of  the 
life  which  he  led  there  to  fully  justify  the  preference  which  I 
have  expressed.  Though  he  and  I  were  born  in  a  few  miles 
of  each  other,  yet,  from  the  fact  of  our  having  been  sent  to 
different  schools  and  colleges,  we  clicl  not  become  acquainted 
until  after  we  had  grown  up  and  come  to  the  bar.  Being  a 
year  or  two  younger  than  myself,  he  came  in  a  little  later. 
When  he  first  began  to  attend  our  Hancock  courts,  at  Sparta, 
1  was  then  a  partner  of  the  late  Judge  James  Thomas,  whose 
only  daughter,  Mrs.  Bell,  Linton  married  in  the  year  1852. 
He  then  made  Sparta,  as  you  know,  his  home,  and  ever 
afterwards  resided  there.  Before  this  time,  however,  our 
intimacy  had  begun,  and  with  it  the  love  and  admiration 
on  my  part,  both  of  which  steadily  increased  to  the  last. 
I  well  remember  how  I  was  first  impressed  by  his  manners, 
and  that  I  little  expected  to  be  ever  so  related  to  him  as  I 
afterwards  became.  His  sternness  of  countenance,  with  his 
usual  taciturnity,  and  his  apparent  entire  disregard  of  the 
value  of  making  a  good  impression  on  the  minds  of  others 
when  he  spoke  at  all,  induced  me  to  regard  him  as  misan- 

17 


178  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

thropical,  and  to  suspect  him  to  be  incapable  of  forming 
strong  attachments  to  persons  or  things;  but  I  soon  dis- 
covered I  had  made  a  mistake ;  that  under  that  grave  ex- 
terior, and  accompanying,  harmoniously,  the  thoughtful- 
ness  often  descending  to  melancholy,  which  had  formed  it 
so,  there  was  an  abundance  of  that  sort  of  tenderness  which 
led  him  to  love  deeply,  to  pity  cordially,  and  a  humor 
which,  in  genuineness  and  richness,  I  have  seldom  seen 
equaled. 

The  people  of  Hancock  cordially  received  him  ;  and,  being 
a  member  of  the  political  party  which  had  a  majority  in  the 
county,  (Whig,)  he  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  at  the  next 
session  after  his  removal.  Though  a  Democrat  myself,  ]  had 
already  formed  so  strong  an  attachment  for  him,  and  so  ad- 
mired his  genius,  that  I  could  but  be  pleased  to  see  him 
thus  have  opportunities  of  making  the  reputation  which  1 
knew  was  in  store  for  him.  Kven  those  Democrats  who 
were  most  strictly  party  men*  were  led  to  console  them- 
selves in  defeat,  that  the  new  leader  of  their  opponents  was 
a  man  of  real  genius,  and  a  thoroughly  honest  gentleman. 

And  now,  this  last  word  reminds  me  afresh  what  a  gi'/t- 
flcuian  was  Linton  Stephens!  Sure  I  am  that  in  his  whole 
life,  whatever  may  have  been  the  objects  of  his  desire,  he 
not  only  did  never  swerve  from  the  straight  line  of  honora- 
ble pursuit  of  them;  but,  as  I  fully  believe:,  he  was  never 
tempted  to  do  so. 

In  his  practice  at  the  bar,  in  his  conduct  of  a  political 
campaign,  in  his  business  dealings  with  his  neighbors,  he 
\vas  entirely  incapable  of  the  employment  of  a  trick,  and 
would  have  scorned  to  have  any  object,  however  desirable, 
that  he  could  not  fairly  win ;  for  he  prized  his  own  honor 
above  all  possible  human  possessions,  even  to  the  love  of 
those  who  were  the  objects  of  his  best  love.  It  was  this 
exalted  sense  of  honor  that  made  him  sometimes  so  terri- 
ble in  debate;  for  the  slightest  deflection  from  honorable 
conduct,  and  even  the  suspicion  of  it,  aroused  his  indignation. 

Such  a  man  must  exert  great  influence  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, lie:  had  not  been  long  a  resident  of  Hancock  before 
he  became  its  leading  citizen.  His  character,  not  at  all  less 
than  his  intellect,  made  him  such.  lie  was  never  a  flatterer 
of  the  people — and,  indeed,  was  not  often  among  them.  A. 
visit  from  him  to  other  than  his  kinsmen  was  extremely 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  I  79 

rare.  He  did  not  often  go  to  his  office,  and  when  he  did 
go,  he  usually  staid  but  a  short  time,  and  then  returned  to 
his  home;  but  when  he  met  the  people,  whether  one  or 
two  of  them,  upon  the  streets,  or  in  assembled  crowds  at 
the  court-house,  or  the  hustings,  he  so  spoke  and  acted 
that  they  continually  grew  in  their  respect  and  their  love 
for  him. 

I  said  that  he  would  often  return  home  during  office- 
hours.  Of  all  men  whom  I  have  ever  known,  I  think  he 
was  the  most  averse  to  leaving  home.  The  love  of 
home,  with  him,  far  outweighed  the  desire  for  professional 
or  political  success.  But  for  his  conviction  that  such  a  course 
would  have  been  an  unjustifiable  employment  of  his  talents, 
I  am  confident  that  he  would  have  retired  from  the  law  and 
from  politics  long  before  his  death.  Many  a  struggle  has 
he  had  on  mornings,  when  he  was  to  start  upon  the  circuit, 
between  the  reluctance  to  leave  home  and  a  sense  of  duty 
to  go.  It  was  only  two  weeks  before  his  death,  when  I 
was  at  his  house,  and  he  had  a  short  respite  from  the  State 
prosecutions  in  Atlanta,  that  he  spoke  of  his  repugnance  to 
going  back  to  them,  and  of  a  desire,  amounting  to  longing, 
to  retire  from  all  public  life,  and  be  always  afterwards  with 
his  family. 

Yet,  when  he  went  to  the  courts,  this  home-feeling  did 
not  interfere  with  his  attention  to  his  cases,  and  at  recesses, 
especially  in  the  evenings  at  the  hotels,  when  he  had  such 
company  as  he  liked,  he  could  fully  enjoy  social  reunions, 
and  there  was  no  lawyer  who  was  more  quick  to  notice  the 
funny  things  which  used  to  occur  in  the  circuit-ridings,  or 
rehearse  them  better,  or  enjoy  their  rehearsal  more  keenly 
than  he.  Yet,  while  he  would  never  dispatch  business  too 
hurriedly  for  the  sake  of  getting  home,  when  he  did  get 
there,  no  man  could  more  fully  have  enjoyed  the  return. 

At  home!  It  was  here  that  Linton  Stephens  was  at  Jiis 
best.  The  singleness  of  heart  that  made  him  so  just  and 
straightforward  among  men  made  him  as  honorable  a  hus- 
band as  ever  lived  in  this  world,  I  do  believe.  He  had 
married  from  pure  love.  He  could  not  have  married  but 
from  pure  love.  Otherwise,  he  would  have  been  most  un- 
happy in  marriage.  The  longer  his  married  life  continued, 
the  more  he  loved  the  woman  who  had  blessed  it  and  the 
children  she  had  borne  to  him.  He  was^not  only  loving, 


ISO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

but  he  was  attentive  and  tender — a  continual  companion  in 
all  seasons,  and  almost  the  best  of  nurses  in  the  seasons  of 
sickness.  Five  years  after  his  marriage,  his  wife  died.  I 
never  witnessed  greater  anguish  than  he  suffered  from  this 
affliction.  It  continued  through  many  years,  and  until  he 
met  the  lady  who  became  his  second  wife.  You  will  have 
noticed  in  some  of  the  letters  which  I  have  sent  to  you, 
written  long  after,  how  he  dwelt  upon  this  loss. 

Time,  however,  healed  the  wounds  of  this  grief,  and, 
having  again  most  fortunately  married,  as  before,  he  loved 
as  he  loved  before,  and  was  as  happy  with  his  noble  second 
wife  as  he  had  been  with  the  first. 

It  was  during  the  ten  years  of  his  widowerhood,  from 
1857  to  1867,  that  our  friend,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  exhibited 
the  rarest  qualities  of  head  and  heart. 

He  \vas  left  with  three  little  girls.  There  was  no  female 
relative  who  stood  in  such  near  relationship  to  him  as  would 
make  it  practicable  for  her  to  undertake  their  guidance  dur- 
ing these  years.  His  wife  had  been  the  only  child  of  Judge 
Thomas,  and  her  mother  had  died  before  her.  Linton's 
only  sister  resided  in  a  remote  part  of  the  State,  and  had  a 
considerable  family  of  her  own.  But  in  the  household  there 
were  some  faithful  and  well-trained  servants.  With  these, 
therefore,  he  undertook  to  bring  up  these  little  girls.  It 
would  have  touched  the  heart  of  any  man,  however  little 
acquainted  with  him  and  his  condition,  to  see  how  assidu- 
ously he  labored  to  compensate  these  children  for  the 
loss  which  they  had  suffered — how  he  strove  to  be  both 
father  and  mother  to  them,  and  how,  when  sometimes  he 
would  feel  that  he  must,  and  did  come  short  of  this  respon- 
sibility, he  lapsed  almost  into  despair. 

But  here  the  tenderness  which  was  one  of  his  most  strik- 
ing qualities  came  to  his  aid,  and  was  sufficient  for  his  and 
their  needs.  He  took  upon  himself  the  care  and  education 
of  these  children,  and  those  of  us  who  knew  him  best 
saw  with  pleasure  how  he  adapted  himself  to  this  delicate 
and  most  difficult  task.  To  me,  he  seemed  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  making  himself  again  a  child — so  fully  did  his 
heart  learn  to  accord  with  theirs  in  the  love  and  apprecia- 
tion of  things  which  are  intended  and  generally  seem  to  be- 
fitted only  for  childhood. 

Patiently  he  taught  them  the  principles  of  learning,  and 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  l8l 

his  old  love  of  childish  literature  came  again  to  him,  as, 
with  his  little  ones  around  him,  he  read  the  old  stories,  and 
his  and  their  tears  flowed  together.  I  have  often  gone  to 
his  house  and  found  him  with  his  little  charge.  But  he 
usually  dismissed  them,  after  I  entered,  to  their  nurse,  and 
though  most  generally  we  went  to  the  consideration  of  other 
things,  yet,  he  would  sometimes  linger  upon  a  subject  that 
their  last  lessons  had  suggested,  and  fondly  tell  of  some  of 
their  sayings  and  doings.  There  was  one  story,  in  particu- 
lar, of  the  old  days,  which  he  and  I  often  referred  to,  and 
pleasingly  remembered  how,  when  very  young1  children,  we 
had  wept  over  it.  The  book  containing  it  had  long  been 
out  of  print,  but  I  found  it  once  at  an  administrator's  sale 
and  bought  it.  I  told  him  of  it,  and  mentioned  that  I 
had  not  read  it  again,  and  had  hesitated  to  do  so  in  the 
fear  that  I  might  not  feel  the  old  emotion.  He  asked  me 
to  send  it  to  him.  I  did  so;  and  not  long  afterwards,  he 
said  to  me:  "Dick,  you  need  not  be  afraid  that  you  won't 
cry  from  reading  Little  Jack.  I  have  read  it  to  the  child- 
ren. They  cried  as  if  their  hearts  would  break,  and  I  cried 
about  as  much  as  they  did." 

It  was  this  tenderness  in  his  nature  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  enabled  him  to  bring  on  these  little  girls  in 
the  sort  of  education  which  it  was  best  for  them  to  have. 
Not  only  his  natural  love,  but  his  sympathy  for  them,  his 
commiseration  even  for  their  very  unconsciousness  of  the 
loss  they  had  suffered,  made  him  the  more  easily  become 
sometimes  like  them  in  tastes,  feelings  and  emotions.  It 
would  have  put  to  shame  most  fathers,  and  those  with 
greatly  less  capacity  than  his  for  the  enjoyment  and  pursuit 
of  greater  things,  to  notice  how  thoroughly  he  had  learned 
these  children's  various  characters,  and  how  he  delighted 
in  employing  the  means  of  giving  them  suitable  develop- 
ment. 

Sometime  during  the  war,  Mr.  Cosby  Conncl,  an  unmar- 
ried gentleman,  about  ten  years  his  senior,  an  intelligent 
man  of  ordinary  education,  and  of  great  probity  of  charac- 
ter, went  to  live  with  him,  and  so  continued  until  his  death 
in  the  year  1868. 

A  very  ardent  personal  friendship  grew  up  between  these 
two  men.  Mr.  Connel  was  a  man  of  decided  likings,  and, 
being  of  domestic  habits,  rendered  invaluable  aid  in  the 


1 82  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

management  of  household  affairs.  The  children  became 
strongly  attached  to  him,  and  he  to  them.  He  watched 
over  them  with  the  care  and  affection  of  a  father,  and  Lin- 
ton  was  greatly  relieved  of  his  anxiety,  in  his  absence,  when 
he  knew  they  were  under  the  charge  of  Air.  Connel. 

And  now,  what  shall  I  say  about  what  it  was  to  visit  at 
that  house  in  those  times?  The  absence  of  women  did 
away  with  much  ceremonious  entrance.  The  door  was  ever 
open,  and  his  friends  seldom  paused  to  knock.  Advancing 
through  the  spacious  hall,  they  entered  into  his  library, 
where  he  literally  lived.  He  might  be  reading  to  his  child- 
ren, or  reading  for  his  own  entertainment,  or  writing,  or 
playing  at  solitaire,  or  simply  musing  while  he  smoked  his 
cigar.  The  open  box  was  on  the  mantel,  and  the  visitor 
would  light  up  and  read  a  newspaper,  picking  up  one  of  a 
do/.en  from  the  floor,  or  take  a  hand  at  cards,  or  sit  and 
smoke,  and  wait  for  talk  to  begin.  Cosby  Connel  would 
just  have  been  in,  or  would  soon  come  in  from  the  garden, 
in  which  he  took  great  pride,  and  we  might  begin  on  him 
until  Linton  would  turn  from  his  table  and  join  in.  We 
might  talk  of  politics,  or  a  law  case,  or  of  Cosby's  peas, 
and  cabbage,  and  potatoes.  The  presence  of  friends  would 
unbend  him  from  his  studies,  and  make  him  seem  to  forget 
his  grief  and  solitude.  I  never  expect  to  enjoy  again  such 
raciness  of  talk  as  we  used  to  have  in  that  library  when  ^'e 
would  all  get  warmed  well  in  contact.  His  humor  was  only 
the  more  genuine  and  flowing  from  the  melancholy,  which, 
natural  to  him,  had  been  mellowed  by  affliction.  There 
was  many  a  character,  both  in  Hancock  and  the  adjoining 
counties,  \vhose  oddities  he  and  I  well  knew,  and  the  re- 
hearsal of  their  doings  and  sayings  would  be  followed  by 
shouts  of  laughter  that  it  would  be  glorious  to  hear  and  to  ut- 
ter. But  later  in  the  day,  I  max*  have  lingered  longer  than 
the  rest.  After  dinner,  Cosby  might  be  out  at  his  work,  or 
taking  his  evening  nap  on  the  sofa.  As  the  clay  xvould 
xvanc,  xv e  xvould  lapse  into  serious  conversation,  which 
might  lead  to  his  oxvn  condition,  the  prospects  of  his  child- 
ren and  his  oxvn;  on  these  he  xvould  conx'erse  xvith  me  as 
freely,  I  believe,  as  he  did  xvith  his  oxvn  heart.  When,  at 
last,  the  day  xvould  end,  and  I  must  go,  xx'e  xvould  shake 
hands  without  other  xvords  than  "good-bye;"  yet,  he  xvould 
know,  and  1  am  sure  it  comforted  him  in  some  degree  to 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  183 

know,  that  I  loved   and   sympathized   with   him   more  and 
more  from  every  additional  interview. 

Alluding  to  the  merry  times  we  sometimes  had,  I  am  re- 
minded that  I  have  observed  that  his  appreciation  of  hu- 
morous things  was  not  as  generally  known  as  it  was  by  those 
who  were  his  intimate  friends.  Added  to  an  uncommonly 
serious  exterior,  he  had,  beyond  any  one  I  have  ever  known, 
the  faculty  of  postponing  the  enjoyment  of  a  ridiculous  oc- 
currence, if  a  postponement  was  proper  or  desirable.  He 
could  witness,  without  a  change  in  his  face,  the  funniest 
things,  and  then  store  them  away,  even  the  smallest  bits  of 
them,  and  afterwards,  when  a  fit  opportunity  occurred,  bring 
them  forth,  and  they  would  have  lost  none  of  their  fresh- 
ness. I  well  remember  his  first  visit  to  me  after  I  had  re- 
moved to  Athens,  and  when  he  came  there  as  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  One  afternoon,  we  had  taken  a  long 
walk  into  the  country,  and  were  returning  clown  the  hill 
near  Governor  Lumpkin's.  He  had  been  telling  me  some 
good  things  about  several  of  our  old  acquaintances,  and  we 
had  gotten  into  a  vein  of  uncontrollable  laughter.  He  then 
told  me  several  anecdotes  of  Gabe  Nash,  Esq.;  one,  espe- 
cially, about  the  municipal  ordinances  of  the  new  town  of 
Hartwell,  under  one  of  which  Gabe  was  fined  a  dollar  for 
loud  talking  in  the  streets.  We  were  both  so  convulsed 
by  this  that  we  became  uproarious  in  our  bursts  of  laughter, 
and  had  to  lean  upon  each  other  to  keep  from  falling. 
We  had  not  noticed  a  carriage  that  was  coming  up  the  hill. 
It  contained  some  of  ray  lady  acquaintances.  We  bowed 
in  some  confusion  as  they  passed,  and  they  afterwards  said 
to  me  that  they  had  made  the  driver  linger  a  while  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  in  the  apprehension  that  a  couple  of  es- 
caped lunatics  were  in  their  way. 

We  were  both  extremely  fond  of  his  father-in-law,  the 
late  Judge  James  Thomas.  The  Judge,  a  capital  lawyer, 
and  otherwise  an  excellent  man,  had  many  eccentricities. 
These  manifested  themselves  most  frequently  in  his  seasons 
of  sickness,  and  unfortunately  the  latter  occurred  very  often. 
Whenever  one  of  these  came  on,  Linton  would  go  to  his 
house  and  remain  with  him  until  he  was  well  again.  I  have 
already  said  that  the  latter  was  one  of  the  best  of  nurses, 
and  the  Judge,  having  lost  his  wife,  and  having  no  female 
relative  in  the  house,  needed  the  nursing  that  Linton  knew 


184  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

how  to  bestow.  Another  reason  for  this  necessity  was, 
that  the  Judge  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  own  medi- 
cal skill,  and  none  whatever  in  that  of  any  physician.  It 
was  only  Linton  who  could  restrain  him  from  employing 
whatever  remedies  his  whimsy  might  suggest — remedies 
which  often  were  the  most  unsuitable  possible  for  his  condi- 
tion. It  was  always  an  extremely  difficult  matter  to  control 
him  in  such  cases.  Only  Linton,  with  his  coolness  and  firm- 
ness, could  hold  him  in  check.  The  old  gentleman  doted  on 
his  son-in-law,  and  always  his  most  potent  reason  with  him 
in  yielding  his  point,  would  be  the  apprehension  that  he 
might  not  be  sufficiently  considerate  of  Linton's  feelings 
if  he  should  persist  in  his  course.  Still,  he  would  argue 
evcr\r  point,  and  sometimes  Linton  would  be  driven  to  put 
his  hand  upon  the  potion  that  he  had  resolved  to  take,  and 
gently  withdraw  it  from  his  grasp.  At  such  times,  there 
had  to  be  a  compromise  of  some  sort,  for  nothing  could  get 
him  to  take  the  prescription  of  the  physician.  The  highest 
compliment  he  had  ever  been  known  to  pay  to  any  physician 
was  when  he  said  of  Dr.  Edward  Alfriencl,  his  family  physi- 
cian and  very  clear  friend,  that  he  really  did  believe  that 
Alfriend  killed  fewer  patients  than  any  doctor  he  knew. 

After  such  a  sojourn  with  the  Judge  at  Lancaster  (his 
country-seat),  Linton  would  return  home.  When  we  could 
get  a  fair  opportunity  for  such  a  purpose,  and  had  gotten  fully 
rested  from  his  long  watching,  he  would  take  out  of  his 
pocket,  as  it  were,  scores  of  the  funniest  things  imagin- 
able that  had  occurred  at  Lancaster,  tell  them  over  to  me, 
and,  for  the  first  time,  would  laugh  and  laugh  until  the  tears 
would  run  out  of  his  eyes. 

I  have  spoken  thus  freely  of  his  humor,  because  I  am 
sure  the  public  generally  were  not  aware  how  abundant  and 
heart}-  it  was.  While  his  elegant  culture  enabled  him  to 
see  at  a  glance  and  to  fully  appreciate  the  most  delicate 
playfulness  of  the  best  literary  humorists,  yet  his  simplicity, 
and  broadness  of  understanding  and  heart,  allowed  him  to 
take  in  all  humorous  things,  from  the  most  sparkling  sallies 
of  genius  to  the  droll  gambols  of  even  the  lower  animals. 
When  we  would  be  going  on  the  circuit  together,  in  a  buggy, 
while  much  of  our  conversation  would  be  on  serious  sub- 
jects, and  very  often  upon  our  own,  and  especially  his 
domestic  afflictions,  yet  he  would  often  be  diverted  to 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  185 

making  charades  and  conundrums,  and  other  sportive 
suggestions.  Occasionally,  these  speculations  would  im- 
perceptibly lapse  into  a  vein  of  sentiment,  and  even  of 
melancholy,  that  would  be  most  delicate  and  most  touching. 
The  shadow  that  his  great  affliction  had  cast  upon  him  was 
ever  there,  but  the  humor  that  was  a  part  of  his  nature 
must  assert  itself  sometimes,  and  I  am  sure  it  became  the 
richer  from  the  pathos  which  went  along  with  it.  To  one 
Avho  shed  so  many  tears  in  secret,  a  laugh  was  sometimes 
as  refreshing  as  food  to  the  hungry,  and  he  enjoyed  it  the 
more  because  it  seldom  came,  and  came  irresistibly. 

The  intercourse  that  he  had  with  his  clients  was  interest- 
ing. No  lawyer  was  ever  more  free  from  the  habit  of  either 
encouraging  litigation,  or  flattering  clients  by  giving  too 
favorable  opinions.  Thoroughly  sincere  in  all  things,  he 
counselled  exactly  as  he  thought.  Whenever  an  attempt 
was  made  to  arbitrate,  he  was  one  of  the  few,  who  could  see 
and  feel  the  strong  points  in  the  adversary's  right,  equally 
with  those  of  his  client,  no  matter  how  long  he  had  been  con- 
nected with  his  case.  He  was  almost  a  perfect  lawyer, 
and  the  thorough  control  he  exerted  over  his  intellect  made 
such  a  task  easy.  It  was  thus  he  could  win  suits  without 
appealing  to  the  prejudices  of  juries,  or  too  hastily  assailing 
his  adversary,  preferring  and  feeling  safe  to  rely  upon  the 
strength  of  his  case  and  his  power  to  establish  it.  Aside 
from  the  eloquence  that  comes  from  an  ardent  and  vigorous 
understanding  that  had  received  great  culture,  there  was  a 
perspicuity  in  his  spoken  language,  and  a  facility  of  sim- 
plifying contested  questions,  that  I  never  saw  surpassed  at 
the  bar. 

Counting  the  work  that  he  did,  he  ought  to  have  amassed 
a  fortune  by  his  practice.  But  his  charges  were  almost  uni- 
formly below  the  average  of  the  profession,  and  often,  very 
often,  he  would  lower  the  fee  after  the  termination  of  a  great 
case,  and  lower  it  again  and  again,  upon  the  representation 
(not  always  sincere)  of  his  client  that  he  could  not  afford  to 
pay  it.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in  his  own  county. 
The  poor  had  their  little  cases  attended  to  with  as  little  cost 
as  the  poor  anywhere,  certainly,  and,  by  his  prudent  coun- 
sels, he  kept  out  of  the  courts  a  greater  number  of  litigants 
than  he  ever  carried  there.  There  is  no  calculating  the 
blessing  that  such  a  lawyer  is  to  a  community. 


1 86  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

After  the  war,  when  almost  every  man  became  reduced 
to  poverty,  he  did  an  immense  amount  of  such  work — not 
excepting  the  destitute  negroes  from  his  charitable  counsels 
and  aid.  He  was  constantly  making  their  little  settlements, 
and  adjusting  their  disputes,  and  counselling  them  generally, 
and  without  reward. 

Such  devotion  had  its  legitimate  results.  Of  course, 
there  was  some  ingratitude  in  his  experience,  as  in  that 
of  every  generous  man.  But  he  was  as  much  beloved 
in  that  county  as  any  public  man  could  be  anywhere,  and 
when  he  died,  all,  as  well  the  poor  as  those  who  had  been 
able  to  recover  from  pecuniary  disasters,  as  well  the  black 
man  as  the  white,  mourned  as  if  they  had  lost*  their  best 
friend.  The  little  village  of  colored  people,  built  in  the 
suburbs  of  Sparta  since  the  war,  was  draped  with  crape. 

As  his  children  grew  older,  his  friends  hoped  he  might 
again  marry,  they  being  all  girls.  I  do  not  doubt  that  his 
grief  for  the  loss  of  his  wife  was  the  deeper  and  the  harder 
to  be  subdued,  as  he  contemplated  daily  the  increasing  loss 
which  her  death  had  brought  to  them.  But  it  was  not 
until  1865  that  the  idea  of  a  second  marriage  was  per- 
mitted to  enter  his  mind.  It  was  in  the  fall  of  this  year, 
while  on  a  visit  to  his  brother,  then  a  prisoner  at  Fort  War- 
ren, that  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Alary  \V.  Salter, 
of  Boston.  This  acquaintance  ripened  into  most  devoted 
affection,  and  led  to  his  second  marriage,  which  took  place 
in  1867.  This  marriage  was  most  happy  in  its  results.  In 
this  new  sharer  of  his  after  fortunes,  lie  and  his  children 
found  every  quality  becoming  the  character  of  wife  and 
mother.  Never  was  man,  so  sorely  afflicted  for  years,  more 
eminently  blessed  in  the  end.  Three  other  children  were 
born  ;  and  I  have  never  known  a  house  in  which  it  would 
have  been  more  difficult  to  notice  in  all,  parents  and  child- 
ren, that  there  was  any  difference  in  their  relative  positions 
among  one  another.  Even  now,  since  the  father  has  been 
removed  from  them,  the  only  alteration  that  death  has 
seemed  to  cause  has  been  to  bind  that  blended  circle  the 
closer  together  in  reciprocal  duties  and  affections. 

I  scarcely  know  how  even  to  begin  to  speak  of  Linton 
as  a  friend.  He  was  so  unspeakably  dear  to  me,  that  I  feel 
like  saying  more  than  would  perhaps  be  becoming  in  such 
a  letter.  While  he  was  so  generally  beloved  in  his 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1 87 

neighborhood,  he  was  on  strictly  and  entirely  confidential 
terms  of  friendship  with  a  limited  number.  Without  much 
constraint  in  his  associations  with  his  neighbors,  his  deepest 
and  most  secret  thoughts  and  feelings  were  imparted  to 
very  few ;  and  to  them,  they  were  imparted  without  the 
slightest  reserve.  The  tenderness  of  which  I  have  before 
spoken  gushed  out,  abundant  and  free,  to  the  friends  he 
loved.  For  his  friendship  was  pure  love.  He  had  grown 
to  be  warmly  attached  to  Mr.  Cosby  Connel.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1868,  he  and  Mrs.  Stephens  went  on  a  visit  to  her 
parents  in  Boston,  and  left  this  gentleman  and  the  older 
children  behind.  During  their  absence,  Mr.  Connel  died. 
I  regret  much  that  I  have  mislaid  the  letter  Linton  wrote 
me  from  Boston  when  he  heard  by  telegraph  of  this  event. 
But  he  wept  and  wept!  I  saw  from  the  letter,  what  I  knew 
before  I  received  and  read  it,  that  his  very  soul  was  pour- 
ing itself  out  in  sorrow  for  the  friend  of  his  love. 

I  know  you  will  be  touched  when  you  read  the  letters  he 
wrote  to  me  about  the  sickness  and  death  of  his  servant 
woman,  Mary,  the  wife  of  Travis,  his  coachman ;  for  t  lie  re 
was  another  friend,  though  a  slave.  That  great,  loving 
heart  recognized  its  dues  to  the  lowly  as  well  as  the  high, 
and  paid  them  all  full}-  out  of  its  allowance.  I  have  fre- 
quently remarked  that,  though  he  was  ever  kind  and  con- 
siderate to  negroes  generally,  yet  he  seemed  to  have  a  feel- 
ing akin  to  friendship  for  all  belonging  to  his  special  friends. 
My  old  house-servants  liked  him  very  much  for  his  friendly 
notice,  and  he  and  they  usually  shook  hands  on  meeting 
and  parting  at  my  house. 

It  was  always  beautiful  to  me  to  observe  the  relations  be- 
tween him  and  his  brother,  Alexander.  I  suspect  that  no 
two  brothers  ever  stood  in  the  relation  to  each  other  of 
greater  love  and  sympathy.  While  they  were  never  part- 
ners in  the  law,  yet  they  would  never  appear  in  court  on 
opposing  sides.  Their  love  was  such  that  each,  I  believe, 
could  not  endure  the  thought  of  attempting,  or  even  wish- 
ing for  things  different  or  adverse  among  themselves.  It 
was  for  sometime  unfavorable  to  the  growth  of  Linton 's 
reputation,  that  the  general  public  delayed  to  give  him  full 
credit  for  independence  in  his  political  opinions.  The  truth 
is,  that  their  thorough  intimacy  and  their  mutual  fondness 
had  induced  a  similarity  of  thinking  upon  most  subjects; 


188  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

and  though  living  in  different  counties,  they  often,  and  in- 
deed generally,  would  form  instantaneously  the  same  judg- 
ments upon  questions  that  had  newly  arisen,  and  upon 
which  they  had  not  had  time  to  confer.  I  have  noticed, 
sometimes,  the  pleasure  each  has  felt  in  such  a  case. 

The  brothers  sympathized  always  and  entirely.  The  joy 
and  the  grief  of  one  were  the  joy  and  the  grief  of  the  other. 
This  was  most  especially  the  case  with  the  elder  brother. 
To  Linton  he  had  been  both  brother  and  father.  He  had 
educated  him  with  almost  uncqualed  care,  and,  I  am  sure, 
that  his  greatest  happiness,  aside  from  the  consciousness  of 
performing  his  own  duties,  consisted  in  seeing  Linton 
successful  and  happy.  Their  love  for  each  other  was  per- 
fect in  its  kind.  The  death  of  Linton  would  have  broken 
the  heart  of  the  survivor,  but  for  his  religious  faith,  and  his 
sense  of  obligation  to  hold  out  to  the  last  in  the  work  which 
he  had  yet  to  do. 

In  conclusion,  I  say  to  you  frankly,  that  I  feel  like  say- 
ing something  more,  if  I  could  find  what  was  becoming  to 
say,  about  Linton  as  my  friend.  Hut  I  fear  I  have  already 
alluded  too  often  to  myself  in  this  letter.  Hut  I  knew  him 
best,  when  he  and  I  were  together,  alone.  We  had  been 
friends  from  the  first  to  the  last.  In  those  twenty  years, 
through  what  varied  scenes  we  passed  together !  We  have 
rejoiced  together,  and  we  have  mourned  together.  lie  had 
domestic  afflictions — so  had  I.  In  those  twenty  years,  he 
and  I  several  times  were  in  alternate  relations  of  wailer  and 
consoler.  Deeply  and  long  as  he  could  bewail  his  own  griefs, 
so  tenderly  and  considerately  could  he  be  a  consoler  of 
mine.  I  have  never  known  a  man  who  understood,  as  well 
as  he,  the  blessed  art  of  searching  into  the  breast  of  a  sor- 
rowing friend,  and  applying  healing  balm  unto  its  sorest 
wounds.  In  all  of  his  moods,  whether  sad  or  gay,  lie  was 
ever  the  same  to  me,  trusted  and  loved;  and,  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  say,  trusting  and  loving.  When  1  heard  that  he- 
was  no  more,  few  things  that  might  have  happened  could 
have  impressed  me  more  deeply  with  thoughts  of  what 
havoc  death  can  make  with  the  happiness  which  comes  from 
indulgence  in  human  affections. 

Very  truly,  your  friend, 

R.  M.  JOHNSTON. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  189 

I  insert  here  a  few  additional  letters,  without  regard  to 
chronological  order,  which  avouch  the  accuracy  of  Profes- 
sor Johnston's  judgment  of  the  beauty  and  tenderness  of 
his  domestic  and  social  virtues. 

From  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  Virginia,  whither  he 
repaired  for  health,  in  1868,  he  wrote  this  letter  to  his  three 
eldest  daughters — Rebecca,  Claude  and  Emm  : 

WHITE  SULPHUR  SPRINGS,  September  i,  1868. 

MY  PRECIOUS  DARLINGS — The  main  purpose  which  your 
poor,  old,  gruffy,  morose,  petulant,  melancholy  Papa  has 
in  writing  to  you  at  this  late  day  is  to  apologize  for  not  hav- 
ing written  to  you  sooner.  The  penalty  of  duty  neglected 
is  always,  in  the  end,  humiliation  in  some  way  or  other;  and 
the  offender  gets  off  very  lightly  when  the  humiliation  comes 
in  no  worse  form  than  confession — especially,  when  the  con- 
fession has  the  reactionary  effect  of  procuring  pardon  or  ab- 
solution, and  thus  setting  him  on  his  legs  again  with  a  re- 
lieved conscience  and  undaunted  brow.  I  have  made  the 
confession  ;  it  depends  upon  you  to  grant  the  absolution. 
Will  you  do  it  at  once,  and  thus  set  poor  Papa  up  all  right 
again,  or  \vill  you  prolong  his  punishment  by  withholding 
your  forgiveness?  If  the  latter,  I  shall  not  complain,  for  I 
richly  deserve  it;  but  if  the  former,  1  shall  be  very  happy 
in  having  one  more  proof  that  you  are  the  sweetest  and 
best  children  in  the  world.  To  forgive  neglect  of  ourselves, 
on  the  part  of  others,  is  one  of  the  very  highest  exercises 
of  unselfish  love,  and  therefore  one  of  the  highest  and 
brightest  elements  of  excellence,  since  there  is  nothing 
which  exceeds  neglect  in  its  tendency  to  wound  our  self- 
love.  To  subordinate  self-love  to  our  love  for  another  is 
as  beautiful  as  it  is  difficult  and  heroic.  If,  therefore,  you 
shall  exhibit  the  beauty  of  heroism,  I  shall  have  the  felicity 
of  forgiveness.  I  shall  cease  to  regret  my  sin,  because  it 
will  be  taken  away  from  me  and  converted  into  the  exalta- 
tion and  glory  of  my  children.  Can  my  sweet  darlings  now 
refuse  to  forgive  poor  old  Papa?  No.  I  am  sure  they  will 
eagerly  contest  the  point  among  themselves,  which  of  them 
will  be  the  first  to  spring  into  his  arms  and  tell  him  he  is 
forgiven.  Do  you  know,  by  the  way,  that  the  enormity  of 


IQO  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

my  delinquencies  obliges  me  sometimes  to  incur  the  humil- 
iation of  apologizing  to  so  small  a  personage  as  Baby?* 
Just  think  of  it !  a  grave,  gray-headed  man  like  me,  asking 
pardon  of  a  little  frowning  monkey  like  her;  and  yet,  my 
petulant  humors  or  irreverent  speeches  are  sometimes 
resented  by  her  little  ladyship  in  a  way  which  brings  the 
repentant  old  father  right  down  on  his  knees.  But  bless 
her  bright,  sweet,  loving  little  soul !  she  never  fails  to  for- 
give her  "  Papy  "  whenever  he  asks  her  forgiveness  in  the 
proper  handsome  manner.  I  am  indeed  blessed  in  my 
children- — in  all  my  children,  from  the  greatest  even  unto 
the  least  You  will  understand,  however,  that  in  estimat- 
ing which  is  greatest  and  which  is  least,  I  shall  be  guided, 
not  by  the  size  and  beaut}'  of  their  bodies,  but  by  the  size 
and  beaut}'  of  their  souls.  Do  you  want  to  know  ivliicli  of 
your  four  souls  Papa  regards  as  the  biggest  and  most  beau- 
tiful? Ah!  well,  that  is  Papa's  secret.  He  defies  any  and 
all  of  you  to  find  it  out.  You  need  not  try  to  worm  it  out 
of  Mama,  for  I  do  not  intend  to  let  her  any  deeper  into  it 
than  the  rest  of  you.  I  give  all  of  you,  including  her,  full 
leave  to  form  an  alliance  against  me,  and  to  use  all  your 
art.  I  shall  not  be  cajoled  or  surprised  into  a  revelation. 
I  will,  however,  give  you  a  clue  to  guide  your  guesses  from 
time  to  time.  I  say  from  time  to  time,  because  the  size 
and  beaut}1  of  the  soul  are  things  of  givict/t,  and  the  soul 
that  excels  at  one  time  is  often  overtaken  and  surpassed  by 
the  more  rapid  growth  of  an  inferior  one.  Yes,  my  dar- 
lings, the  soul  is  even  more  capable  of  growth  than  the 
body  is;  for,  unlike  the  bod}',  it  has  no  limitation  upon  its 
growth,  neither  in  time  nor  eternity.  It  may  forever  and 
forever  expand  in  capacity  and  beaut}' — finding  forever  a 
new  happiness  in  its  very  sense  of  expansion.  Is  not  this 
a  very  sweet  and  encouraging  thought?  To  know  our  ca- 
pacities of  happiness  is  the  opening  of  the  gate  which 
leads  to  its  attainment.  The  sight  of  the  splendid  prize,  as 
a  possession  which  can  be  made  our  own,  is  a  most  powerful 
incentive  to  struggle  for  its  appropriation.  This  sight  comes 
to  the  soul  by  the  eye  of  faith,  founded  on  reason,  just  as 
images  of  beauty  in  the  material  world  sink  sweetly  and 
lovingly  into  the  chambers  of  the  material  eye,  if  it  will 

*  Little  Nora,  then   not  much  over  a  year  old. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  19! 

only  open  its  doors  and  let  in  the  light.  But  I  said  I  would 
give  you  a  chic.  Well,  here  it  is :  I  shall  be  very  apt  to 
think  that  soul  the  biggest  and  most  beautiful  which  is  the 
biggest  and  most  beautiful ;  and  you  will,  therefore,  be  most 
likely  .to  get  at  my  secret  opinion  by  forming  for  yourselves 
the  most  candid  judgment  of  your  own  comparative  charac- 
ters. Aha!  you  think  now  I  have  betrayed  my  secret. 
Not  a  bit — I  hope  and  believe  all  of  you  will  exhibit  such 
an  equal  growth — each  resolved  not  to  be  surpassed  by  any 
other — that  the  difference  shall  ever  remain  a  contested 
point  and  a  doubtful  matter.  Do  you  suppose,  from  wrhat 
I  have  said,  that  I  would  have  you  to  look  upon  one  and 
another  as  rivals?  No,  not  rivals — not  even  in  greatness 
and  beauty  of  soul — for  rivalry  implies  a  certain  sort  of 
selfishness,  even  when  the  contest  is  pursued  for  the  noblest 
prizes;  while  real  greatness  and  beauty  of  soul  consist  in 
nothing  more  certainly  and  luminously  than  in  the  negation 
of  self  and  devotion  to  others — preferring  one  another  in 
honor,  even  in  the  'honor  of  goodness.  Lest  all  this  may 
seem  incomprehensible  to  your  young  minds,  as  it  equally 
seems  to  many,  very  many  older  ones,  I  will  express  it  in  a 
different  form,  which  I  think  is  clearer,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  more  accurate.  I  begin  by  saying  that  my  idea  must 
not  be  understood  as  excluding  all  selfishness  from  the  pale 
of  greatness  and  beauty;  on  the  contrary,  there  is  one  sort 
of  selfishness  which  forms  the  necessary  basis  of  rational 
character,  whether  rational  or  insane — everything  does  and 
must  act  with  a  view  to  his  oti'n  happiness.  Do  you  sug- 
gest that  very  few  people  seem  to  act  from  that  motive — 
that  many  seem  to  be  pursuing  their  own  misery  instead 
of  happiness?  Well,  this  is  only  a  seeming — not  a  reality. 
It  is  too  true  that  very  few  persons  pursue  their  happiness 
in  a.  wise  way,  or  with  wisdom  equal  to  their  knowledge ; 
but  it  is  still  equally  true  that  every  person  is  always  im- 
pelled by  some  view  of  his  own  happiness  as  a  motive- 
power.  It  is  often  a  most  mistaken  view — so  obviously  mis- 
taken that  it  would  be  readily  corrected  by  his  own  stock 
of  knowledge,  if  his  knowledge  were  only  realized  and  ap- 
plied to  the  case.  The  difficulty  is,  that  knowledge  is  not 
realized,  and  not  applied  in  the  case.  It  is  not  realized,  be- 
cause there  is  not  the  necessary  reflection  to  bring  home,  as 
a  present  reality,  its  logical  conclusions  which  lie  in  the  fu- 


IQ2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

ture.  There  is  nothing  so  difficult  for  human  nature  as  to 
preserve  a  just  relative  estimate  of  the  present  and  the  fu- 
ture, the  short,  evanescent,  but  ever-presiding  present, 
and  the  future  which  has  not  yet  come  in  contact  \vith  the 
soul.  The  future,  although  it  may  be  kno\vn  in  the  sense 
of  being  open  to  reflection,  if  reflection  could  only  be  made 
to  bear  upon  it,  and  accept  it  as  an  inevitable  experience,  loses 
its  just  weight  in  the  balance.  The  present  always  asserts 
itself,  and  never  allows  itself  to  be  overlooked  or  depreci- 
ated. The  poor,  unreflecting  human  soul  often  indulges  in 
a  small  present  gratification,  from  which  it  would  shrink  ap- 
palled if  it  would  but  realize  and  appreciate,  as  a  present  ex- 
perience, the  miserable  consequences  which  lie  in  the  yet 
unreachcd  future;  but  still,  in  the  very  act  of  present  in- 
dulgence, the  soul  is  moved  by  that  view  of  its  own  hap- 
piness which  is  then  predominant.  The  present  reigns  tri- 
umphant because  the  futurc(is  sJutt  ant.  Thus  you  see  how 
it  is,  as  I  have  said,  that  a  certain  sort  of  selfishness  forms 
the  necessary  basis  of  every  character,  and  is  the  spring  of 
all  human  action.  Hut  there  is  an  immeasurable  difference 
between  tu'O  lands  of  selfishness,  and  in  this  difference  lies 
the  secret  of  greatness  and  beauty  of  soul.  One  kind  of 
selfishness  is  solitary — the  other  is  social.  One  finds  its 
happiness  or  gratification  in  the  indulgence  of  its  every 
passion  and  desire,  without  regard  to  the  happiness  or  mis- 
ery of  others,  and  even  sometimes  ///  the  misery  of  others. 
The  other  kind  finds  its  pleasure  in  seeing,  and  still  more 
in  creating,  the  happiness  of  others.  This  kind  cannot  have 
a  real  happiness  unless  it  is  shared  by  loved  ones.  Neither 
of  these  two  kinds  exists  in  its  perfection  in  any  one  person  ; 
but  the  two  kinds  are  mixed  in  every  person,  yet  in  very 
different  degrees  in  different  persons.  The  solitary  kind  is 
despicable  ;  the  social  kind  is  noble,  and  beautiful,  and  lovely. 
Greatness  and  beauty  of  soul  arc  best  cultivated  by  culti- 
vating that  noble  selfishness  which  finds  its  happiness  in 
the  happiness  of  others.  All  of  this,  which  I  have  taken 
so  much  space  to  explain,  is  embodied  in  the  command  to 
love  God  with  your  whole  heart,  and  your  neighbor  as 
yourself.  The  selfishness  which  I  call  the  noble  kind  is  but 
another  exposition  for  the  law  of  love.  It  is  the  fountain 
of  the  purest,  sweetest,  and  most  abundant  happiness.  But 
I  must  hurry  to  a  close.  I  am,  perhaps,  a  little  better  in 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1 93 

health  than  when  I  came  here.  In  a  few  days,  your  uncle 
Ellic  and  I  expect  to  go  to  another  spring  about  sixteen 
miles  from  this  one.  It  is  called  the  Sweet  Chalybeate 
spring.  Send  your  next  letter  to  Boston.  I  have  received 
three  letters  from  Claude,  two  from  Rebecca,  and  one  from' 
Emm.  Emm's  letter  I  got  this  evening.  It  bears  date  of 
the  25th  of  August.  I  think  you  have  all  improved  very 
much  in  letter-writing.  I  think  Claude  has  improved 
the  most,  and  I  expect  it  is  because  she  has  written  the 
most  letters,  and  taken  the  most  pains  to  write  them.  Your 
uncle  was  quite  sick  day  before  yesterday.  He  seemed 
quite  well  again  yesterday,  but  to-day  again  he  is  quite 
unwell.  His  affliction  is  of  the  nature  of  cholera-morbus. 
He  thinks  it  was  produced  by  some  frozen  custard  which 
he  ate  for  dinner  the  day  before  his  attack,  but  I  suspect  it 
came  from  the  water  here.  Before  that  attack,  he  had 
greatly  improved  in  strength  and  health.  I  think  now,  my 
darlings,  that  we  shall  not  get  back  home  before  the  middle 
of  October.  I  don't  want  you  to  go  to  school  while  the 
sun  is  very  hot.  Take  care  of  your  health  by  all  means. 
We  may  get  home  sooner  than  the  time  I  have  mentioned, 
but  you  needn't  expect  us  sooner.  I  don't  know  how  long 
I  may  stay  at  the  other  spring — as  long  as  I  may  get  benefit 
from  it.  And  now,  good-bye,  my  darlings,  and  may  God 
bless  you. 

Your  loving  FATHER. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  August  19,  1869. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  got  your  letter  of 

yesterday,  and  the  Constitutionalist  containing  your  reply  to 
Greeley.  I  think  this  reply  is  one  of  the  very  best  things 
you  ever  wrote.  Indeed,  I  think  it  the  best.  It  is  vigor- 
ous, luminous  and  crushing.  I  have  sent  the  paper  to  Ben 
Harris,  at  his  request.  He  promised  to  take  care  of  it  and 
return  it.  I  was  down  town  a  while  this  morning,  and  spoke 
of  the  piece  in  a  way  which  caused  him  to  ask  for  the  paper. 
While  I  write,  Claude  has  Baby  on  the  sofa,  showing  her 
the  pictures  in  a  large  illustrated  Bible.  She  has  the  pas- 
sion for  pictures  stronger  than  I  ever  saw  it  in  a  child  01 
her  age.  She  has  a  "Mother  Goose"  which  she  pretty 
18* 


194  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

generally  carries  around  with  her,  annoying  people  to  death 
with  begging  to  have  the  pictures  explained.  She  decidedly 
prefers  me  as  expositor,  because  I  render  them  to  her  in 
dramatic  style.  You  can't  imagine  how  intense  an  atten- 
tion she  gives  to  these  representatives,  nor  what  a  Babel  of 
gibberish  she  sometimes  delivers  in  response  to  them.  She 
remembers,  too,  a  great  deal  of  what  I  tell  her  about  the 
pictures,  and  universally  selects  for  comment  those  which 
have  before  been  most  highly  dramatized. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  IT.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  5,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  am  now  about  to  do  what  I  have  no 
recollection  of  ever  having  done  before— re-write  a  letter  to 
you;  or,  to  express  the  truth  more  nearly,  I  am  about  to 
write  you  a  new  letter,  because  I  have  become  dissatisfied 
with  the  one  on  hand,  and  have  discovered  it.  I  was  about 
to  say,  discovered  it  midway,  but  I  don't  know  whether  it 
was  midway,  or  one-tenth,  or  one-twentieth  of  the  way  to 
its  end,  for  one  of  the  main  reasons  I  had  for  dropping  it 
was,  that  I  could  see  no  symptoms  of  its  coming  to  an  end 
at  all.  I  was  like  a  novice  trying  to  dispatch  an  oyster,  and 
feeling  the  thing  grow  bigger  and  bigger  in  his  mouth  in- 
stead of  becoming  prepared  for  the  passage  down  his  gullet. 
So  I  have  just  taken  the  unmanageable  morsel  out  of  my 
mouth,  and  laid  it  gently  down,  in  the  spirit  of  Martin 
Crawford's  man,  who  took  the  hot  pudding  out  of  his  mouth 
at  the  grand  dinner  and  laid  it  down  with  the  complacent, 
self-gratulatory  remark,  "A  damned  fool  would  have  swal- 
lowed it."  I  tell  you  1  had  got  the  thing  into  a  terrible 
tangle,  and  I  am  very  much  disposed  to  compliment  my 
own  ingenuity  in  getting  rid  of  it.  There  are  not  many 
men  who  would  have  done  it.  Now  I  am  read}'  to  go 

on Yesterday,  I  got  your  letter  of 

the  day  before,  written  at  home,  saying  that  you  expected 
to  go  back  to  Augusta  yesterday  evening,  and  telling  me 
also  what  an  escape  you  had  from  being  burnt  out. 

There  was  one  thing  in  your  account  of  the  burning  that 
made  me  laugh,  though  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  that 
you  meant  or  expected  it  to  have  that  effect.  It  was  the 
grand  moral  you  drew  from  the  affair:  "  I  do  abominate  this 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1 95 

way  of  carrying  pipes  about."  Now,  that  a  fellow,  after 
giving  an  account  of  his  being  so  near  a  burning  from  a 
careless  pipe,  should  wind  it  up  with  a  grand  flourish  that 
lie  abominated  this  *vvay  of  carrying  pipes  about,  struck  me 
as  being  superfluous  in  an  irresistibly  ludicrous  degree.  It 
communicated  to  me  just  about  the  same  amount  of  inform- 
ation as  Walter  Shandy  got  from  his  brother  Toby's  re- 
mark when  Toby  informed  Corporal  Trim,  in  the  hearing 
of  Walter,  that  he  believed  the  auxiliaries  with  which  he 
and  Trim  were  acquainted,  and  those  auxiliaries  about  which 
his  "brother  Shandy"  had  been  speaking,  were  different 
things ;  and  if  I  had  been  by  you  when  you  said  it,  I 
should  certainly  have  given  you  "brother  Shandy's"  iden- 
tical reply — "You  do?"  That  passage  in  "Tristram"  is 
not  exceeded  in  humor  by  anything  that  I  ever  heard  or 
read,  and  the  whole  humor  of  it  lies  in  Shandy's  state  of 
mind,  produced  by  the  extreme  superfluity  of  Toby's  re- 
mark. I  insist,  therefore,  that  if  you  had  had  Shandy  for 
an  auditor  when  you  said  you  "did  abominate  this  way  of 
carrying  pipes  about,"  it  would  have  been  as  funny  a  scene 
as  the  one  just  referred  to  between  the  Shandy  brothers. 
Did  you  ever  try  to  analyze  the  fun  of  that  passage?  It  is 
worth  the  trouble.  Toby's  palpable  and  patient  superfluity 
is  a  funny  thing  in  itself,  in  the  first  place ;  and  so  is  yours. 
In  the  next  place,  his  mode  of  expression  implies,  that  how- 
ever the  idea  might  have  been  in  his  mind  before  that  time, 
in  a  vague,  chaotic  form,  it  had  come  to  development  but 
very  lately  before  it  was  formally  announced ;  and  so  does 
yours.  So  far,  the  parallel  is  complete — not  one  whit  against 
you.  But  the  cream  of  the  joke  in  Toby's  instance  could 
not  be  matched  in  yours,  unless  you  had  had  Shandy  for  an 
auditor,  for  it  consists  in  the  very  peculiar  state  of  mind 
induced  in  him.  Toby  had  just  said  a  most  ludicrous  thing  ; 
but  the  moral  is,  that  it  did  not  strike  his  brother  in  a  lu- 
dicrous light.  His  reply,  "You  do !  "  is  exceedingly  sug- 
gestive of  a  state  of  mind  which  he  had  rapidly  passed 
through,  as  well  as  the  one  at  which  he  had  then  arrived. 
The  first  feeling  excited  in  his  mind  evidently  had  been 
contempt  for  Toby's  slowness  in  coming  so  late  to  an  idea 
which  Shandy  certainly  believed  had  been  in  his  own  mind 
ever  since  he  was  born,  and  this  first  feeling  had  been 
quickly  tempered  by  pity,  which  instantly  cast  a  glance 


196  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

into  the  future,  and  saw  no  hope  of  amendment  for  Toby 
there ;  then  it  was  that  despair  entered  into  his  mind  and 
he  softly  said,  "You  do?" 

• 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  27,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  is  another  memorable  anniversary 
with  me.  To-day,  eight  years  ago,  I  was  married.  That 
was  a  brilliant  day  and  brilliant  night — the  most  brilliant,  I 
have  often  thought,  that  I  ever  saw ;  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  its  annual  returns  are  apt  to  be  of  like  character.  Such 
is  to-day.  I  will  not  write  about  the  thoughts  which  crowd 
upon  me  with  a  peculiar  force  at  this  time,  for  they  would 
only  sadden  you  to  read  them,  and  their  expression  can  do 
me  no  good But  it  occurs  to  me  at  this  mo- 
ment that  I  will  write  you  a  piece  of  news.  We  have  got 
a  vigilance  committee  here.  Yesterday  they  tried  a  fellow 
for  uttering  abolition  sentiments.  The  culprit  was  a  native 
of  this  county,  by  the  name  of  Pool.  He  is  a  young  man, 
26  or  28  years  old,  the  son  of  old  Pool,  the  shingle-getter. 
He  is  a  poor,  ignorant  fellow,  whose  lot  in  life  has  rendered 
virtue  almost  an  impossibility,  and  his  vices  almost  a  neces- 
sity. The  proof  against  him — as  I  heard  the  witness,  Long, 
Mr.  Thomas'  overseer,  detail  it  to  me  and  two  or  three 
others  yesterday  in  an  outside,  informal  way — was  this: 
Long  met  Pool  one  day  going  home  from  Sparta,  and  asked 
him  the  news  in  town.  Pool  replied  that  he  heard  Mr. 
Edwards  read  a  piece  from  a  newspaper  that  day  about  the 
abolitionists  forming  a  band  to  go  and  turn  old  John  Brown 
out  of  jail,  and  he  had  heard  that  the  "Hancock  Vol- 
unteers" were  going  to  Milledgeville  and  get  arms  and  "go 
on"  to  help  prevent  it.  He  then  went  on  to  say  that  he 
thought  we  were  going  to  have  a  ivar,  and  that  he  thought 
that  Brown's  side  would  be  the  strong  side,  because  there 
were  so  many  more  negroes  than  there  were  white  folks, 
and  that  when  the  "war"  came,  he  was  going  to  take  care 
of  himself  by  joining  the  strong  side.  He  added  that  he 
wished  "there  weren't  no  niggers,  nohow,"  for  then  he 
could  get  more  for  his  work.  Long  asked  him  how  he 
could  get  to  Brown's  men  when  he  should  undertake  to 
join  them.  He  said  he  would  black  himself  and  go  to  them 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  1 97 

* 

where  they  were.  "Mark  you  this,  sir:  he  would  black 
himself."  This  was  the  proof.  Poor  Pool  denied  every  bit 
of  it,  most  bitterly,  and  swore  he  was  as  good  a  friend  to 
the  South  as  any  man  who  owned  a  hundred  niggers.  His 
denial  was  as  emphatic  as  old  Peter's  was,  and  made,  no 
doubt,  for  the  same  reason — to  save  himself  from  being 
hung.  Jack  Smith,  who  is  one  of  the  "Vigilants, "  came 
to  me,  where  I  was  sitting  in  the  street  on  a  goods  box, 
taking  the  sun,  and  talking  to  Cosby  and  two  or  three 
others,  and  asked  my  advice  about  what  was  the  best  to  be 
done  with  Pool.  \Yhereupon,  I  gave  him  my  advice,  with 
such  a  prelude  as  I  hoped  might  secure  its  adoption.  I 
told  him,  for  my  part,  I  was  not  in  favor  of  Lynch-law,  but 
I  couldn't  help  feeling  glad  whenever  I  heard  of  a  strag- 
gling abolitionist  being  sent  back  on  his  own  side  of  the  line 
with  onr  mark  on  him ;  that  I  was  perfectly  willing  to  see 
the  rascals  fed  out  of  their  own  spoon  by  rendering  the 
slavery  question  a  practical  test  to  them  as  they  were 
rendering  it  to  us ;  and  hence,  whenever  I  heard  of  a 
strolling  Yankee  of  this  class  sent  back  home  with  a 
little  token  to  keep  us  fresh  in  his  memory,  and  the 
memory  of  his  friends,  I  felt  that  a  good  work  was  going 
on;  but  that  there  could  be  no  good  accomplished  by 
harshness  towards  a  poor,  simple  native  like  Pool.  There 
was  nobody  to  be  annoyed  or  corrected  by  it,  except  a  few 
other  simple  people  of  his  own  class,  whose  sympathies 
would  only  be  increased  by  a  martyr  in  their  own  class, 
however  their  tongues  might  be  stilled  by  the  terror  of  the 
example  ;  that  such  fellows  as  he  were  to  be  watched  and 
taken  care  of  when  a  conflict  might  be  thrust  upon  us  by 
a  far  different  class  of  men ;  but  that  he  never  could  pro- 
duce the  conflict,  nor  start  the  first  ripple  towards  the  first 
move ;  that  he  certainly  was  not  a  dangerous  man,  what- 
ever his  wishes  might  be  ;  for  there  wasn't  a  negro  in  the 
county  with  so  little  sense  as  to  be  fooled  into  trouble  by 
such  a  fellow  as  Pool.  The  conclusion  to  which  I  came 
from  all  this  was,  that  it  would  have  been  best,  perhaps,  to 
have  said  nothing  about  it  in  the  first  instance;  but  as  they 
had  noticed  it  officially,  the  best  thing  now  was  to  lecture 
him,  and  turn  him  loose  on  good  behavior.  Jack  went  off 
to  rejoin  his  associates  with  an  evident  intent,  as  I  thought, 
to  advocate  the  course  I  had  advised.  John  B ,  who  had 


198  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

been  standing  in  ear-shot,  came  up  as  soon  as  Jack  had  left, 
and  in  a  tone  of  remonstrance  against  the  advice  I  had 
given,  said:  "Well,  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  when  they  get  so 
far  along  as  to  talk  about  blacking  tJieinselvc s,  sir,  I'll  tell  you, 
sir,  something  ought  to  be  done  with  them."  I  laughed 
and  Cosby  laughed.  The  result  of  Pool's  case  was  that 
he  was  lectured  and  turned  loose.  I  believe  the  lecturing 
was  done  by  Jack  Smith.  Cosby  was  not  pleased  with  my 
views  about  strolling  Yankees.  He  is  an  extreme  conser- 
vative, and  undertook  to  argue  the  question  with  me.  He 
said  my  position — that  I  myself  would  not  administer 
Lynch-lawr — was  an  acknowledgment  that  Lynch-law  was 
wrong.  I  told  him,  in  the  first  place,  I  had  only  said  I  was 
not  in  favor  of  Lynch-law — that  is,  that  I  was  not  its  advocate  ; 
but  while  I  was  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  would  myself 
administer  it  in  any  case  whatever,  I  was  equally  unpre- 
pared to  say  that  I  would  not  administer  it  in  any  conceiv- 
able case ;  on  the  contrary,  I  was  inclined  to  think  there 
might  be  cases  in  which  it  would  be  right,  and  in  which  I 
would  myself  administer  it;  but  that  my  rejoicing  to  hear 
of  its  administration,  in  a  temperate  style  upon  strolling 
Yankees  sometimes,  was  independent  of  the  question  of 
whether  it  was  right  or  wrong  in  the  person  who  adminis- 
ters it;  that  my  rejoicing  might  be  right  while  their  act 
might  be  wrong.  He  said  he  couldn't  understand  that 
morality;  and  as  you  may  have  a  similar  difficulty,  allow 
me  to  lengthen  out  this  letter,  already  too  long,  to  justify 
my  position.  You  may  find  me  wandering  into  some  curi- 
ous abstractions,  but  you  must  be  patient.  I  prefer  that 
you  should  read  them  and  set  them  right  if  they  should  be 
wrong,  rather  than  throw  them  aside  because  they  arc- 
wrong.  Did  you  ever  read  Bulwer's  "  Eugene  Aram?"  If 
so,  you  of  course  remember  the  splendid  sophistry  by  which 
Aram  satisfied  himself  that  he  might  justifiably  kill  the  old 
miser  in  order  to  get  his  money  and  make  a  good  use  of  it. 
It  is,  as  I  have  called  it,  truly  a  sophistry,  but  it  contained 
much  truth,  and  is  logically  separated  from  the  conclusion 
at  which  it  arrives,  only  by  a  single  fallacy,  at  the  very  last 
link  of  the  chain.  I  speak  from  memory,  unrefreshed  within 
twenty  years  or  more  ;  but  I  think  every  link  in  the  chain 
is  a  good  one,  except  the  last.  According  to  all  human 
apprehension,  it  would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  the  money 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  199 

to  get  out  of  the  hands  of  the  miser,  where  it  did  no  good 
to  himself  nor  anybody  else,  into  the  hands  of  the  benefi- 
cent Aram,  whose  large  charity  was  withheld  trom  its  mis- 
sion of  blessings,  and  his  genius  restrained  from  its  career 
of  usefulness,  only  by  penury.  It  would  have  been  a  good 
thing  for  him  to  get  the  money,  but  it  was  not  right  for 
him,  as  he  concluded  it  was,  to  kill  the  old  miser  and  take 
it.  If  the  old  fellow  had  died  in  the  course  of  nature,  and 
left  his  money  to  Aram,  everybody  would  have  said  that  a 
good  thing  had  happened,  and  everybody  would  have  been 
glad  to  hear  that  the  old  man  was  dead,  if  it  had  been  known 
beforehand  that  he  had  a  will  in  Aram's  favor — glad  to 
hear  that  he  was  dead,  but  glad  not  because  he  was  dead,  but 
because  Aram  would  get  the  money.  So,  if  the  old  fellow, 
with  such  a  will  on  hand,  had  been  killed  by  some  great 
scoundrel  who  had  missed  being  hung  long  before,  from 
want  of  evidence,  and  not  want  of  dues,  the  people  would 
have  still  rejoiced  to  hear  that  he  was  dead,  (however,  a 
thrill  of  horror  might  have  passed  over  them,)  not  because 
he  was  dead,  but  still  because  Aram  would  get  the  money, 
and  a  great  scoundrel,  besides,  would  get  his  long-delayed 
deserts.  They  would  all  have  said  the  great  scoundrel  had 
done  a  great  crime,  and  they  would  have  hung  him  for  it, 
and  there  would  have  been  regrets  and  pity  for  the  poor 
murdered  old  man  ;  but  the  whole  drama,  when  played  out, 
would  have  caused  more  pity  than  sorrow,  and  anybody 
who  could  hai'e  foreseen  the  end  would  have  felt  the  joy  as 
soon  as  the  curtain  was  raised.  A  good  man  would  have 
given  his  voice  for  hanging  the  murderer  who  opened  the 
drama,  and  yet  would  have  rejoiced  that  it  was  opened  be- 
cause of  the  results  which  he  could  foresee  would  necessa- 
rily come  as  a  consequence  of  the  opening.  Now,  you  may 
begin  to  perceive  why  I  may  rejoice  when  I  hear  of  a 
strolling  Yankee  being  sent  across  Mason  and  Dixon's 
Line  in  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers.  I  rejoice,  not  in  the 
poor  fellow's  pain,  whether  he  be  guilt}'  or  innocent,  but 
because  I  foresee  that  his  treatment  will  either  bring  his 
deluded  friends  to  a  sense  of  justice,  by  showing  them  that 
justice  to  us  and  their  own  interests  are  one  and  the  same 
thing,  or  will  madden  them  into  the  disruption  of  a  gov- 
ernment which  has  become  an  instrument  of  our  annoy- 
ance and  torture,  instead  of  our  security  and  protection.  I 


2OO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

might  even  condemn  the  men  who  play  such  fantastic 
tricks,  and  yet  be  glad  the  tricks  are  played.  I  might  not 
be  willing  to  do  the  deed  myself,  because  I  might  feel  that 
it  was  wrong,  and  yet  be  glad  that  it  was  done,  because  I 
foresee  that  its  fruit  will  be  good.  The  philosophy  of  the 
idea  is  about  this:  there  is  in  the  world  plenty  of  dirt}' 
work  which  needs  to  be  done,  and  which  is  well  done, 
provided  it  be  done  by  dirty  fellows.  About  the  same 
philosophy  is  taught  by  that  Scripture  which  declares  (in 
substance)  that  "offenses  must  needs  come,  but  woe  unto 
him  by  whom  they  come!  " 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

LANCASTER,  January  29,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Soon  after  finishing  my  letter  to  you 
day  before  yesterday,  I  went  for  Becky  according  to  expec- 
tation. 1  stopped  here  on  my  way  to  see  Mr.  Thomas,  and 
found  him  quite  ill.  I  went  on,  however,  and  got  Becky, 
and  Mollie,  and  Genie.  Mr.  Thomas  got  worse  in  my  ab- 
sence, and  sent  Bill  to  hurry  me  back;  when  I  met  Bill,  I 
hurried  on  there  as  fast  as  I  could,  and  on  getting  here 
found  Mr.  Thomas  in  great  pain  with  his  head — not  sick 
headache,  but  a  headache,  resulting,  I  think,  from  nervous 
prostration.  I  sent  for  Alfriend,  who  soon  came.  He  staid 
until  after  dinner  yesterday,  and  then  went  home  and  sent 
his  brother,  who  staid  until  early  this  morning.  Mr.  Thomas 
is  now  greatly  better.  Of  course,  I  did  not  go  home,  and 
the  children  and  I  have  been  here  ever  since  we  came  from 
the  school.  My  opinion  of  Mr.  Thomas'  case  is,  that  it  is 
the  result  of  the  sudden  withdrawal  of  the  stimulant  to 
which  his  system  had  become  accustomed.  He  has  been 
suffering  more  or  less  in  the  same  way  ever  since  the  first 
attack  about  which  I  wrote  you  soon  after  his  return  from 
the  Southwest.  What  sustained  him  during  the  trip  was,  I 
think,  the  excitement  of  travel  and  looking  after  his  lands. 
He  also  passed  safely  through  the  period  of  our  adjourned 
court  here,  borne  up,  as  he  doubtless  was,  by  the  excite- 
ment of  court  and  the  company  he  saw.  When  that  ex- 
citement was  withdrawn,  the  collapse  came;  such  is  my 
theory.  I  told  him  so  to-day,  but  he  expressed  his  dissent 
from  it.  My  own  judgment  is  decided  on  the  point;  hence 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2OI 

my  prescription  was  different  from  the  doctors.  They,  as 
usual,  put  him  on  starvation.  I  recommended  a  generous 
diet,  in  moderate  quantities,  and  he  has  accordingly  been 
on  oysters  since  yesterday  evening.  He  says  the  oysters 
are  curing  him.  He  is  certainly  greatly  relieved.  1  have 
also  recommended  nitric  acid  as  a  tonic,  and  he  is  going 
to  try  it.  The  doctors  have  now  come  very  fully  into  my 
line  of  treatment,  and  have  made  an  addition  to  it  this 
morning  in  the  form  of  a  nervine  stimulant  composed  of 
ammonia  and  valerian.  To  me,  the  case  seems  to  involve 
nothing  but  plain  sailing;  the  system  ought  to  be  built  up 
by  tonics  and  generous  diet,  carefully  and  moderately  used. 
The  mind,  too,  needs  to  be  doctored,  even  more  than  the 
body.  I  have  managed  him  with  a  skill  that  greatly  pleased 
me,  because  it  has  worked  good  results,  and  has  worked 
them  in  the  precise  way  I  anticipated.  I  have  contrived  to 
get  him  mounted  on  the  oyster  sensation,  with  a  most  con- 
fident faith  in  its  virtue.  He  is  now  riding  the  oyster  hobby 
beautifully;  in  fact,  he  needs  a  little  watching  to  keep  him 
from  jading  the  animal.  I  go  along  with  him  to  regulate 
his  paces,  and  he  allows  me  to  do  so  without  any  resist- 
ance. One  great  point  in  my  programme  is  to  keep  the 
doctors  u'dl  abused.  Last  night  I  got  my  mail,  and  in  it 
three,  yes  four,  letters  from  you.  I  now  have  got  all  that 

you  addressed  to  me  at  Macon 

What  was  there  to  make  you  laugh  in  the  editorial  on 
you  from  the  Louisville  Journal/  I  don't  understand  your 
laughing.  Was  it  the  artful  use  the  fellow  made  of  circum- 
stances to  guild  his  notions  about  you  in  the  lines  of  prob- 
ability? I  suppose  so,  but  I  am  in  doubt.  This  editorial 
doesn't  very  well  support  Dr.  Bush's  declaration,  which  I 
read  to-day  in  a  letter  from  him  to  Mr.  Thomas,  to  the  effect 
that  the  editor  of  the  Journal  is  for  you  for  the  Presidency. 
Bush  declares  himself  to  be  for  you,  and  says  you  would  be 
exceedingly  acceptable  to  Kentucky.  He  says  he  wants 
Georgia  to  press  you  before  the  Charleston  Convention. 

The  meeting  between  me  and  Becky,  the  other  day,  was 
quite  an  event  for  both  of  us;  she  met  me  300  yards  be- 
fore I  got  to  the  house,  and  was  almost  out  of  breath.  I 
do  not  remember  to  have  felt  such  a  gush  of  real,  bounding, 
childish  joy  at  any  time  within  twenty  years,  as  I  did  when 
19* 


2O2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

she  sprang  into  my  arms.  Her  own  joy  was  irresistibly 
infectious.  The  very  first  words  she  uttered  were  these, 
between  her  puffing  and  panting  for  exhaustion:  "Papa, 
I'm  (puff)  learning  (puff)  fast."  "Bless  the  darling" 
was  my  response  as  I  enfolded  her  again  in  my  arms, 
and  almost  squeezed  out  of  her  what  breath  she  had  left. 
You  may  think  I  cried,  but  I  didn't;  I  was  too  glad  to  cry. 
!  desired  very  much  to  see  the  meeting  between  her  and 
her  little  sisters,  but  I  missed  it.  The  day  was  so  cold  and 
windy  that  I  put  her  in  the  carriage  instead  of  the  buggy 
with  me,  and  after  meeting  Bill,  I  made  such  haste  as  to 
leave  the  carriage  far  behind.  So  I  was  in  Mr.  Thomas' 
room  when  the  carriage  arrived  here,  and  the  children  had 
got  together  before  I  was  aware  of  its  arrival.  They  were 
very,  very  glad  to  see  each  other;  but  from  what  I  heard, 
the  meeting  between  them  was  not  so  demonstrative  as  1 
had  expected  it  to  be.  I  think  Becky's  meeting  with  me 
had  taken  off  somewhat  of  the  edge  of  her  joy.  After  that, 
there  was  something  approaching  a  sort  of  collapse.  I 
think  that  the  new  associations  of  the  school  have  already 
had  a  very  visible  improving  effect  upon  her.  I  would  give 
you.  divers  instances  of  things  I  have  heard  her  say,  to 
make  good  the  proof  of  my  assertion,  but  I  have  got  sense 
enough  to  know  that  I  am  a  fool,  and  so  keep  my  folly  to 

myself. This   letter   has  been 

written  without  any  fire  ;  and  though  the  weather  has  greatly 
moderated  in  a  day  or  two,  still  it  is  cold  enough  to  render 
it  desirable  to  hunt  a  fire,  after  so  long  sitting  without  one; 
so  I  will  hasten  to  an  end. 

I  have  just  heard  to-day  of  a  place  in  Jefferson  county, 
which  I  think  will  suit  me,  and  I  am  going  on  Tuesday  (if 
nothing  happens  unforeseen  to  prevent)  to  look  at  it  It  is 
about  eight  or  nine  miles  from  Louisville,  on  the  road  from 
the  Shoals  (of  Ogechee)  to  Louisville,  on  Rocky  Comfort 
creek.  It  is  known  as  the  old  Cobb  place,  and  is  now  owned 
by  Bob  Phini/y,  of  Augusta.  There  are  four  thousand 
acres  of  it,  and  his  price  is  four  dollars  per  acre.  I  hear 
that  it  is  capital  land;  if  so,  this  is  even  a  better  bargain 
than  Simpson's  purchase  of  the  Fitz-Simmons  place.  I 
am  obliged  to  have  another  place.  1  do  not  need  so  much 
as  4,000  acres  more,  but  I  don't  object  to  the  quantity  at 
all.  Land  is  going  to  be  land  in  this  country — that  is  my 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2O3 

judgment ;  so  now  for  the  fire.  You  said  you  wanted  to  get 
a  cheerful  letter  from  me.  This  is,  I  think,  on  the  whole,  a 
pretty  cheerful  one,  and  a  faithful  copy  of  my  thoughts  while 
I  have  been  writing  it.  Good-bye. 

Affectionately,  LINTON. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  14,  1864. 

DEAR  BROTHER — No  letter  from  you  yesterday.  In  my 
letter  of  yesterday,  I  forgot  to  say  that  one  of  yours,  whose 
reception  I  acknowledged,  was  the  one  containing  the  sad 
news  of  the  death  of  poor  Dick  Greer.  *  I  am  truly  pained 
at  this  news.  Poor  Dick  was  characterized  by  a  frankness 
and  honesty  that  made  me  like  him  very  much  from  a  boy 
up ;  and  then  he  seemed  to  have  a  relish  for  life,  which 
renders  his  early  death  peculiarly  sad.  Poor  Dick !  Well 
do  I  remember  the  trip  which  he  and  his  mother  took  with 
me  from  their  house  to  Hamilton,  when  he  was  a  baby  in 
his  mother's  arms.  Well  do  I  remember,  too,  some  of  the 
incidents  of  that  trip,  which  owed  their  origin  to  his  state 

of  babyhood Dick  was  more  closely 

associated  with  his  mother,  in  my  memory,  than  any  other 
of  her  children,  and  death  is  a  renewal  to  me  of  my  sense 
of  her  loss.  Poor  Dick!  Truly  do  I  mourn  his  untimely 
fall. 

Poor  Catharine !  Poor  Catharine !  How  vividly  do  I  re- 
member her  death-stricken  face  as  we  saw  it  in  the  coffin — 
reposing  calm  and  pale  amidst  the  framing  of  premature 
gray  hair,  which  spoke  of  affliction  and  pain  long  endured 
before  death's  kind  release !  Oh,  God  !  how  sharp  the  pang 
that  flashes  through  my  breast  from  the  memory  of  that 
mournful  sight! 

I  am  reminded  to  tell  you  of  a  talk  which  the  children 
and  I  had  on  the  way  to  Mr.  Thomas'  the  last  time  we 
went  there.  It  started  from  a  sudden  remark  which 
Claude  made  about  you.  She  said,  "Papa,  if  uncle  Ellic 
was  a  school-teacher,  his  scholars  wouldn't  learn  any- 
thing." "Why  not?"  said  I.  "  Because,"  said  she,  "he'd 
tell  'em  everything."  I  thought  it  was  a  decidedly  good 

*  A  nephew  kiHed  in  the  battle  near  Winchester,  Virginia. 


2O4  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH    OF 

hit  on  you.  That  remark  led  us  into  a  talk  about  their 
school  and  their  studies,  and  to  some  questions  from  me 
as  to  how  each  of  them  was  getting  on  in  each  study. 
When  I  struck  Becky  on  her  arithmetic,  Emm  put  in  her 
oar.  Said  she,  "Papa,  sister  Becky  has  got  to  be  nearly 

as   bad   as .      She   most   always  misses  her  'rithme- 

tic  lessons."  Against  this  very  pointed  assertion,  Becky 
entered  a  vehement  protest.  Without  stopping  to  settle 

the  dispute,  I  asked   Emm  how  it  was  with ?     In 

answering  this  question,  she  went  into  a  vein  of  humor  al- 
most as  rich  as  I  ever  heard  from  Mr.  Toombs,  or  your  Bob, 
and  very  much  of  the  same  kind  which  I  have  often  seen 
displayed  by  those  two  masters  of  the  art.  I  can't  give 
you  much  idea  of  it,  because  the  best  part  of  it  consisted 

in  her  mimicry  of  poor 's  actions  while  undergoing 

the  torture  of  having  a  very  bad  recitation  wrung  out  of 
her.  I  can  only  give  you  a  point  or  two  in  words,  leaving 
you  to  imagine  the  exquisite  mimicry  by  which  the  words 
were  accompanied.  "—  — ,"  said  she,  "  why,  she  always 
misses.  When  uncle  Carlos  gives  her  a  question  in  'rith- 
metic,  she  just  goes  to  saying  the  question  over,  and  over, 
and  over,  and  counts  on  her  fingers  this  way,"  (mimicking). 
"Then  she  stops  saying  over  the  question,  but  keeps  on 
counting  with  her  fingers,  and  goes  to  working  her  lips  as 
hard  as  she  can,  this  away;  then  uncle  Carlos  tells  her,  'I 
don't  hear  you  ; '  then  she  works  her  lips  and  counts  her 
fingers  faster  than  ever,  but  don't  say  a  word.  At  last, 
uncle  Carlos*  tells  her  the  answer;  and  then  she  jumps  this 
away,  (mimicking,)  and  says:  'Mr.  Stevens,  I  was  jest 
agoing  to  say  that ! ' ' 

This  will  give  you  an    idea.      Poor  E would  have 

been  sorely  mortified  if  she  had  seen  herself  as  portrayed 
by  Emm.  There  was  not,  however,  the  slightest  tinge 
of  bad  nature  in  a  single  one  of  the  many  pungent  strokes; 
it  was  all  pure  fun.  Poor 's  agonies  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  a  keener  or  more  appreciative  eye  to  observe 
them  than  Emm  showed  she  had  had,  hanging  over  them 
like  a  bee  over  a  flower  to  gather  its  sweets.  The  child 


called  him  uncle. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2O5 

gets  this  talent  from  her  mother,  who  had  it  in  a  higher  de- 
gree, I  think,  than  anybody — certainly  than  any  woman — I 
ever  knew 

"The  old  man  Anthony,"  to  whom  reference  is  made  in 
the  following  letter,  is  the  Rev.  Samuel  Anthony,  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  so  well  known  in  Georgia,  and  so  much 
beloved  and  respected  by  a  multitude  of  acquaintances 
throughout  the  State.  He,  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson,  and  Mr. 
Benjamin  T.  Harris,  had  spent  an  evening  at  Judge  Ste- 
phens' house: 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  7,  1 860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — When  the  old 

man  Anthony  bade  me  good-bye,  he  kept  my  hand  in  his 
for  a  few  moments,  and  said  to  me  :  "  Don't  you  forget  the 
one  thing  needful—you  need  religion  to  bring  up  these  little 
ones  right."  I  think  I  give  his  very  words.  The  tears 
started  in  his  eyes,  and  I  confess  they  started  in  mine,  too. 
I  have  always  thought  that  he  was  a  good  man,  and  I  have 
a  very  great  respect  for  his  old-fashioned,  out-spoken  piety. 

He  used  to  be  a  prime  favorite  of  uncle  Jack's 

You  may  be  curious  to  know  whether  the  old  gentleman 
recognized  me  or  not  at  sight.  He  did,  but  his  memory 
had  been  refreshed  by  seeing  me  on  two  occasions  since  he 
used  to  see  me  at  uncle  Jack's — once  at  Liberty  camp- 
meeting,  (in  Greene,)  in  1847,  anc^  again  in  Macon  last 
summer.  He  is  a  remarkable  man  in  some  particulars — re- 
markable for  his  simple  piety,  and  being  totally  devoid  of 
what  is  properly  called  ambition ;  but  perhaps  not  least  re- 
markable for  his  marvelous  state  of  physical  preservation. 
He  looks  just  as  he  used  to  look  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  when  he  must  have  then  been  at  least  thirty-five 
years  old.  He  is  sixty  at  least  now,  but  scarcely  seems 
to  be  forty 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  8,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — You  asked 

me  in  one  of  your  late  letters  whether-  I  had  read  Mrs. 


2O6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Bryan's  "Lovable  Heroines."  I  have  read  it,  and  most 
heartily  indorse  it.  Her  criticism  on  Beulah  expressed  my 
sentiments  exactly,  so  far  as  it  went.  She  is  an  uncom- 
monly sensible  woman — a  real  woman — only  more  of  a 
woman  than  most  of  her  sex,  and,  therefore,  a  better  speci- 
men of  it.  I  have  thought  more  of  her  since  I  have  heard 
that  she  inclines  to  fat,  because  that  gives  me  assurance 
that  she  is  a  flesh  and  blood  woman — none  of  your  pining, 
poetical  shadows  that  live  upon  moonbeams  and  dew- 
drops 

The  gifted  authoress  above  referred  to  is  Mrs.  Mary  K. 
Bryan — now  (1876)  at  the  head  of  the  literary  department 
of  TIic  Sunny  SoutJi. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  11,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — To-day,  I  got  your  letter  of  )'cstcrday, 
and  yesterday  evening,  on  my  return  from  bringing  Becky 
home,  I  got  one  of  the  day  before.  And  this  is  another 
anniversary  of  the  day  of  your  birth.  You  were  born  forty- 
eight  years  ago.  Oh !  what  crowds  and  floods  of  events 
that  you  can  number,  and  what  innumerable  myriads  more, 
of  which  you  knew  nothing,  have  transpired  in  that  period 
of  forty-eight  years!  Oh!  it  is  a  long,  long  time!  but  I 
am  not  in  a  moralizing  mood  to-day.  The  da}7  has  so  far 
(and  it  is  now  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon)  been  an  unusu- 
ally pleasant  one  to  me.  That  part  of  it  which  has  been 
most  so  was  spent  with  my  children.  At  this  very  mo- 
ment, I  hear  their  busy  little  feet  pattering  down  the  stair- 
steps that  go  up  from  the  library  door.  They  have  been 
up  stairs  on  some  raid  or  other,  I  suppose.  Becky's  re- 
turn home  yesterday  was  quite  an  event  to  her  and  her 
little  sisters,  and,  most  of  all,  to  the  negroes.  In  coming 
home,  she  repeatedly  urged  me  to  make  Charlie  go  faster, 
sometimes  in  a  direct  way,  and  at  other  times  by  insinua- 
tion. For  instance:  she  asked  me  once,  with  a  cunning 
smile,  which  was  the  best  to  make  Charlie  go  fast — whipping 

or  clucking Have  you  seen  Mr. 

Toombs'  speech  ?     It  is  one  of  great  power.      It  is  the  worst 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2O/ 

drubbing  that  I  have  ever  seen  administered  to  the  Repub- 
licans  I  was  much  amused  at  your 

quarrel  with  the  common  mode  of  designating  colds,  pains, 
etc.,  as  my  cold,  my  headache,  etc.,  but  I  hardly  think  you 
made  good  your  point.  I  think,  after  all,  there  is  a  prop- 
erty in  the  things,  though  they  may  be,  as  you  say,  our 
decided  enemies.  It  is  an  involuntary  and  disagreeable 
property,  but  still  it  is  a  property.  The  mode  of  speech 
which  you  criticise  is  carried  so  far,  and  properly  carried  so 
far,  as  to  say — my  enemy,  my  trouble,  my  grief,  etc.  The 
epithet  "my"  is  not  necessarily  one  of  endearment,  but  it 
is  one  of  property ;  it  expresses  a  pccitlium  you  have  in 
the  pain,  or  in  the  enmity — a  stock  which  is  yours,  etc.  I 
have  just  got  your  letter  of  yesterday,  your  birthday.  1 
am  glad  to  know  that  your  cold  has  got  better — or  rather, 
that  you  have  got  better  of  your  cold — that  you  are  gain- 
ing ground  on  your  enemy.  All  well  to-day.  It  is  a 
bright,  beautiful  day,  but  rather  cold 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  16,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — My  dinner  is  just  over;  and  not  feeling 
inclined  to  do  any  work  this  afternoon,  I  turn  to  you  for  a 
little  pleasant  occupation.  No  letter  from  you  to-day.  I 
missed  the  accustomed  visitor  a  good  deal.  This  morning, 
I  sent  you  a  long  letter,  written  yesterday,  with  a  post- 
script added  this  morning.  It  reinclosed  to  you  the  letter 
which  you  sent  me  from  Mr.  Toombs.  While  I  think  of 
it,  let  me  mention  several  letters  which  I  have  written  to 
you,  but  of  which  you  have  made  no  mention.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  you  have  acknowledged  some  of  them  by  their 
dates,  for  I  don't  keep  much  account  of  dates  in  the  ordi- 
nary run  of  days ;  but  you  have  not  acknowledged  all  of 
them,  either  by  dates  or  accounts,  or  other  marks  of  iden- 
tity. One  is  the  letter  in  which  I  commented  on  your  re- 
cently developed  "abomination  of  this  way  of  carrying 
pipes  about,"  and  also  gave  an  analysis  of  the  humor  in  a 
certain  scene  in  Sterne's  two  Shandy  brothers,  and  asked 
you  if  I  had  not  given  you  an  analysis  of  that  same  thing 
at  some  former  time.  Did  you  get  that  letter?  Another 
is  the  letter  enclosing  Mr.  Crittenden's  letter  to  you  and  a 


2O8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

copy  of  your  reply  to  it.  I  made  some  remarks  on  your 
reply,  mostly  in  a  laughing  vein.  I  remember  1  said  your 
speculations  about  "organ-issues"  struck  me  very  much  as 
Jenkinsons  learning  about  the  "Cosmogony  of  Creation" 
struck  the  old  vicar  in  jail.  It  seemed  to  me  I  had  heard 
something  very  much  like  that  before.  You  have  made 
no  allusion  to  that  letter.  Did  you  get  it?  When  a  fellow 
writes  a  letter  intended  to  produce  a  lavish,  and  never  hears 
from  it,  he  feels  about  as  flat  as  he  does  when  he  attempts 
a  joke  in  company,  and  gets  no  response  from  the  company. 
That  is  a  very  bad  feeling;  I  don't  know  whether  you  ever 
had  it  or  not — I  have.  Another  letter,  from  which  I  have 
never  heard  a  word,  was  the  one  about  the  night  spent  with 
me  by  Mr.  Thomas,  and  the  old  crazy  professor.  Besides 
these,  there  are  yet  others,  but  I  do  not  now  remember 
them.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  you  never  received 
them.  Silence  from  me  on  such  matters  would  not  mean 
so  much  as  your  silence  does,  for  you  are  usually  very  care- 
ful about  acknowledging  letters,  while  I  am  generally  very 
remiss.  Well,  to  change  the  subject:  I  have  just  turned  a 
beggar  away  from  my  door  without  a  cent;  I  don't  believe 
I  ever  did  so  before.  He  was  a  great  big  strapping  fellow, 
who  came  to  me  with  a  "paper."  I  took  it  in  my  hand, 
but  read  only  enough  of  it  to  confirm  me  in  my  supposi- 
tion that  it  was  a  begging  paper,  and  then  handed  it  back 
to  him,  remarking  that  I  had  nothing  to  j.  ive  him.  He 
then  drew  out  and  offered  to  me  a  memorandum  book  and 
pencil,  and  said,  in  pretty  good  broken  English,  that  the 
sum  he  asked  of  me  "was  but  small."  I  did  not  take  the 
book,  but  replied  to  him,  "I  do  not  wish  to  give  you  any- 
thing." He  bowed  with  an  air  that  might  have  become  an 
offended  prince,  and  retired  without  a  word.  Isn't  it  a  cu- 
rious thing  that  such  transparent  scamps  should  be  offended 
at  a  refusal?  The  offense  certainly  is  on  the  other  side,  for 
the  presentation  of  one  of  their  "papers"  to  a  man  is  a 
plain  impeachment  of  his  understanding.  The  action  put 
into  words  means  exactly  this:  "I  take  you  to  befool 
enough  to  give  me  something.  "  As  I  turned  from  the  door, 
after  dismissing  the  beggar  Claude  and  Emm  came  run- 
ning out  of  the  nursery  to  meet  me,  their  little  faces  all 
radiant  with  glee,  and  read}'  for  a  frolic.  Transparent  and 
certain  as  was  the  unworthiness  of  the  application  which  I 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS. 

had  just  refused,  yet  the  sight  of  my  children  immediately 
suggested  to  me  that  the  poor  fellow,  too,  might  have  little 
ones,  and  that  if  so,  they  were  probably  in  want  and 
wretchedness,  while  mine  were  so  bright  and  happy.  What 
made  the  difference,  except  the  accidents  of  life?  All  these 
thoughts  passed  through  my  mind  like  a  flash,  and  for  one 
instant  I  felt  something  like  a  pang  of  repentance.  But  re- 
flection immediately  corrected  it,  and  I  allowed  the  begging 
impostor  to  go  on  his  empty  way 


Hon.  Iverson  L.  Harris,  formerly  one  of  the  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  in  a  letter  from  Milledge- 
ville,  dated  iith  of  November,  1873,  in  forwarding,  under 
the  published  notice  of  the  author  of  this  memoir,  some 
letters  he  had  received  from  Judge  Stephens,  uses  the  fol- 
lowing language: 


"One  of  his  letters,  commenting  on  Bailey's  Essay  on 
Truth,  and  on  the  formation  and  publication  of  opinions, 
evinces  such  power  of  intellect  in  treating  that  difficult  sub- 
ject— belief  in  miracles — that  I  ever  thought  it  ought  to  go 
before  the  public.  So  highly  have  I  ever  appreciated  it, 
that  I  ventured  to  read  it  to  distinguished  churchmen,  that 
they  might  learn  to  correct  their  answers  to  Hurne.  It  im- 
pressed them  favorably.  In  my  poor  judgment,  it  gives 
the  only  true  answer  to  Hume  which  a  great  logical  mind 
can  give.  I  esteem  it  as  an  original  answer,  displaying  a 
vigor  and  profundity  of  thought  which  placed,  at  a  bound, 
Judge  Stephens  with  the  highest  class  of  thinkers.  .  .  . 
"I  not  only  admired  his  high  intellect  and  manly  charac- 
ter, but  really  loved  him.  I  would  have  gone  to  Sparta  to 
have  evinced  my  regard  when  he  was  committed  to  mother 
earth,  but  disease  forbade  the  attempt.  I  desired  very 
much  to  have  been  at  Atlanta  when  General  Toombs  of- 
fered his  report  and  resolutions,  designed  as  some  slight 
memorial.  I  could  not  have  sat  silently  by." 

Here  follows  the  letter  alluded  to: 
20* 


2IO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH   OF 

[  L.  S.  to  Hon.  Iverson  I,.  Harris.  ] 

SPARTA,  April  21,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — On  returning  home  last  Saturday  night, 
from  court  at  Atlanta,  I  found  your  highly  appreciated  letter 
of  the  3  ist  ultimo.  I  was  called  home  by  the  illness  of 
one  of  my  children,  and  have  since  been  so  weary  and 
spiritless  that  I  have  not,  until  now,  undertaken  to  bring 
up  my  correspondence,  which  had  fallen  in  arrears  during 
my  absence.  Instead  of  one  sick  child,  I  found  all  tJirec  of 
my  children  quite  unwell,  and  two  of  them  decidedly  sick. 
I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  now  that  they  are  all  on  foot 
again,  with  a  fair  promise  of  complete  restoration  to  their 
usual  excellent  health. 

I  will  carry  you  the  books,  as  you  request,  when  I  go  over 
to  court.  My  brother  and  I  have  both  finished  reading 
them,  as  you  supposed ;  and  for  myself,  I  will  say  that  the 
reading  of  them  has  been  of  decided  advantage  to  me. 
The  fairness,  and  candor,  and  courage  which  mark  them 
cannot  fail  to  exert  a  happy  influence  upon  any  mind  whose 
vocation  is  the  investigation  of  truth.  The  spirit  of  the 
work  (for  the  two  books  are  but  parts  of  one  work)  is  just 
such  as  ought  to  characterize  every  judge.  And  now,  hav- 
ing said  thus  much  of  the  work,  I  must  say  more  to  avoid 
a  misunderstanding  of  my  opinion  concerning  it.  The  spirit 
of  it  is  fine,  and  its  scaffolding  of  rules  and  preliminary  reason- 
ing, admirable;  but  the  conclusion  to  which  it  mounts  from 
these  premises,  I  regard  as  almost  inexcusably  illogical. 
That  conclusion,  as  you  know,  is  that  a  miracle  cannot  be 
established  by  human  testimony.  The  author  takes  Mr. 
Hume's  definition  of  a  miracle,  to  wit,  a  violation  of  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  then  concludes  that  human  testimony 
is  inadequate  to  establish  a  violation,  because  the  violation 
involves  a  departure  from  the  uniformity  of  causation.  The 
uniformity  of  causation  he  rightly  assumes  as  a  necessary 
truth  which  the  mind  cannot  be  made  to  doubt  by  any  pos- 
sible accumulation  of  human  testimony.  Now,  I  remark, 
in  the  first  place,  that  if  his  argument  is  good,  it  proves 
much  more  than  he  claims  it  proves — not  only  that  a  mir- 
acle cannot  be  established  by  human  testimony,  but  that  a 
miracle  is  absolutely  incredible,  impossible,  beyond  the  power 
of  God,  I  do  not  say  this  consequence  proves  the  argu- 


JUDGE   L1NTON   STEPHENS.  211 

ment  unsound,  but  I  state  the  consequence  merely  to  aid 
a  full  conception  of  the  argument  itself.  There  is  no  covert 
in  which  a  fallacy  is  more  apt  to  lurk  than  in  a  definition. 
So  in  this  case,  I  think,  the  whole  error  lies  in  defining  a 
miracle  to  be  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.  Nor  do  I 
perceive  that  the  churchmen  have  helped  the  matter  the 
least  in  the  world  by  defining  it  to  be,  not  a  violation,  but 
only  a  suspension  of  the  laws  of  nature.  This  is  no  nearer 
the  truth  than  the  other  is,  nor  does  it  at  all  escape  from  the 
force  of  the  argument ;  for  a  suspension  of  the  laws  of 
nature  is  a  departure  from  the  uniformity  of  causation 
just  as  certainly  as  a  violation  is  such  a  departure.  The 
truth  expressed  by  the  term,  "uniformity  of  causation,"  is 
that  the  same  cause,  or  combination  of  causes,  will  invari- 
ably, infallibly  and  necessarily  produce  the  same  effects. 
Now,  to  say  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  suspended  is  simply 
to  say  that  the  very  same  combination  of  causes,  which 
heretofore  invariably  produced  a  given  effect,  is  still  present, 
but  is  no  longer  followed  by  its  appropriate  effect — that 
is  to  say,  that  causation  has  ceased  to  be  uniform,  and  the 
uniformity  of  causation  ceases  to  be  a  truth.  I  think,  there- 
fore, that  a  "suspension"  affords  no  escape  from  the  con- 
clusion to  which,  we  are  inevitably  led,  starting  from  Mr. 
Hume's  definition.  I  think  the  truth  is  that  his  defini- 
tion, as  well  as  that  of  the  churchmen,  is  both  erroneous 
and  highly  unpJdlosophical.  The  miracles  to  which  these 
definitions  relate  are  those  recorded  in  the  Scriptures. 
Now,  these  neither  involve,  nor  profess  to  involve,  either 
any  violation  or  suspension  of  the  uniformity  of  causation. 
They  are  only  exhibitions  of  extraordinary  and  superhuman 
power,  differing  from  the  ten  thousand  other  daily  exhibi- 
tions of  such  superhuman  power  in  nothing  but  this: 
they  were  given  to  man  as  a  witness  for  the  truths  and 
teachings  that  accompanied  them.  The  miracles  of  the 
gospel  imply  no  more  poivcr  than  we  see  exhibited  by 
nature  every  day  of  our  lives.  The  causes,  or  combination  of 
causes,  which  produce  these  results  are  in  both  classes  of 
cases  equally  hid  from  us,  the  result  being  designed  for  a 
special  object  in  the  one  case,  and,  in  the  other  case,  the 
object  being  often  as  obscure  to  us  as  the  cause  is.  To  say 
of  any  event  or  phenomenon,  that  it  violates  the  uniformity 
of  causation,  assumes  that  we  knew  with  certainty  the  exact 


212  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

combination  of  causes  operating  in  the  case — an  assumption 
which,  so  far  from  being  true,  would  be  absolutely  false  in 
almost,  if  not  indeed  in  every  case  of  a  natural  phenome- 
non. Our  author  puts  a  case:  He  says  that  it  would  be  an 
incredible  thing  if  all  the  witnesses  in  the  world  should 
state  that  they  had  seen  ice  fail  to  melt  when  exposed  to  a 
white  heat.  His  argument  is  that  any  man,  having  once 
seen  ice  melt  in  a  white  heat,  cannot  afterwards  be  made  to 
doubt  that  it  will  always  melt  under  the  same  circumstances, 
because  it  is  a  necessary  truth  that  the  same  cause  will  al- 
ways produce  the  same  effect.  He  quietly  assumes  that  the 
cause  is  the  same — no  more,  no  less — but  the  identical  same 
cause  which  he  has  seen  produce  the  effect  of  melting  ice. 
Such  an  assumption  seems  to  me  to  be  highly  unphilosoph- 
ical.  It  amounts  to  an  assumption  that  there  can  be  no 
causes  at  work  in  a  given  case,  except  such  as  are  patent  to 
the  hitman  senses.  For  poor  little  mole-sighted  man  to  de- 
clare that,  in  any  given  case,  there  is  no  single  cause  in  op- 
eration, except  such  as  he  wots  of,  is  just  about  as  ridicu- 
lous and  arrogant  as  if  the  ant  from  the  top  of  his  hill 
should  deny  that  he  was  moving  at  an  immensely  rapid 
rate,  upon  the  ground  that  no  such  motion  was  sensible  to 
the  very  acute  wisdom  of  his  antship.  I  remember  read- 
ing a  story  once  of  an  East  Indian  Chief,  who  was  utterly 
incredulous  when  an  English  officer  told  him  that  he  had 
often  seen  water  in  a  solid  state.  He  thought  the  fact  as- 
serted involved  a.  departure  from  the  uniformity  of  causa- 
tion, and  he  rejected  it  as  spurious.  His  error  was  in  as- 
suming  that  his  own  experience  was  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  know  all  the  causes  in  operation,  and  that  it  was  impos- 
sible there  could  have  been  any  cause  unknown  to  him.  I 
have  no  idea  that  Jesus  raised  La/.arus  from  death,  or  fed 
the  multitude,  or  himself  arose  from  the  dead,  by  either 
violating  or  suspending  the  law  of  causation,  but  he  did  all 
these  things  by  using  causes  and  agencies  which  were  en- 
tirely beyond  their  comprehension.  The  Godhead  stood  re- 
vealed, not  by  results  without  adequate  cause,  but  by  the  use 
of  agencies  which  defied  human  power  to  command  them. 
The  truly  philosophic  spirit  is  cautious  about  pronouning 
an  impossibility.  There  is  quite  as  much  lack  of  philosophy 
in  believing  too  reluctantly,  or  in  refusing  to  believe  at  all, 
as  there  is  in  believing  too  easily.  True  wisdom  neither 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  213 

rejects  as  impossible  nor  adopts  as  true,  except  according 
to  evidence.  The  range  of  real  impossibility  is  exceedingly 
limited.  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if  you  and  I  should 
live  until  the  progress  of  science  shall  render  the  skepticism 
of  our  author  concerning  the  melting  of  ice  quite  as  ludi- 
crous as  we  already  know  that  the  skepticism  of  the  Indian 
Chief  was  concerning  its  existence.  The  chemist  may  yet 
be  able  to  hold  ice  in  a  white  heat  without  melting,  by  the 
use  of  some  agency  at  present  unknown  to  science,  and 
also  imperceptible  to  the  human  senses. 

But  I  must  stop  and  beg  your  pardon  for  having  gone 
into  the  reasons  why  I  dissent  from  the  conclusion  of  the 
author  of  the  work  under  consideration.  After  all,  I  have 
only  given  you  an  outline  of  my  views ;  but  all  I  set  out  to 
do  was  simply  to  express  my  dissent  without  any  reasons 
at  all.  I  must  repeat,  in  conclusion  of  these  remarks  upon 
the  work,  that  the  spirit  of  it  is  very  fine,  and  highly  essen- 
tial in  every  man  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  truth. 

I  feel  very  much  gratified  that  you  concur  with  me  in  my 
views  of  drunkenness  in  accusations  of  crime.  I  never  felt 
more  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  a  conclusion,  and  in 
the  soundness  of  a  process  of  reasoning,  by  which  I  arrived 
at  a  conclusion.  That  men,  who  arc  opposed  to  drunken- 
ness and  in  favor  of  good  morals,  and  a  wholesome  admin- 
istration of  the  laws,  should  abuse  the  decision,  as  many 
such  men  have  done,  can  be  explained  only  by  their  igno- 
rance of  what  the  decision  really  accomplishes.  They  are 
indignant  because  the  decision  declares  that  drunkenness 
may  be  considered  in  investigating  whether  an  act  has  been 
done,  or  if  done,  with  what  intent  it  was  done ;  but  they 
utterly  forget  that  the  light  which  drunkenness  casts  is 
sometimes  against  the  accused,  and  that  the  decision,  there- 
fore, declares  a  principle  which  not  only  protects  the  guilt- 
less, but  also  uncovers  the  guilty.  But  most  of  all,  they 
forget,  or  rather  they  do  not  perceive,  that  this  decision 
puts  the  punishment  of  drunken  men  upon  a  ground  per- 
fectly consistent  with  reason  and  humanity,  and,  therefore, 
greatly  breaks  down  the  reluctance  with  which  juries  inflict 
the  punishment.  The  decision  explodes  the  idea  prevalent, 
even  among  judges  and  law-writers,  that  a  very  drunk  man 
has  not  mind  enough  to  furnish  the  mental  element  in 
crime,  and  is  punished  by  virtue  of  a  constructive  capacity 


214  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

infused  into  him  by  law.  TJie  best  account  which  even  Mr. 
Bishop,  the  latest  and  most  scientific  writer  on  the  subject, 
has  been  able  to  give  of  the  reasonableness  of  punishing  a 
drunken  man  is,  that  he  has  not  sufficient  mind  to  commit 
the  crime  at  the  time  when  he  does  the  act,  yet  his  intent 
to  get  drunk  is  an  unlawful  intent,  and  coalesces  with  the 
act  when  done,  and  so  gives  it  a  criminal  quality.  Would 
not  you  shudder  at  hanging  a  man  for  a  drunken  action,  if 
you  could  not  give  any  better  justification  than  that  for 
your  conduct?  If  I  had  to  say  what  was  the  greatest  merit 
of  the  decision,  my  answer  would  be,  that  it  has  rescued 
the  doctrine  of  punishing  drunken  men  from  the  miserable 
sophism  by  which  it  has  been  heretofore  defended,  and  has 
placed  it  on  a  nci^j  and  rational  ground,  and  so  has  greatly 
contributed  to  the  advancement  of  public  justice.  But  my 
sheet  is  out. 

Yours,  most  truly  and  respectfully, 

LINTON  STEPHENS* 

P.  S. — After  the  approbation  of  his  own  conscience,  the 
next  dearest  reward  to  a  faithful  public  servant  is  the  ap- 
probation of  those  to  whom  his  service  is  rendered ;  and  I 
therefore  do  not  consider  it  out  of  taste  to  tell  you  what  I 
have  heard  of  you.  My  brother  told  me  that  your  charge 
to  the  jury  in  the  negro  murder  case  in  Greene  was  the 
ablest  he  ever  heard  given  to  a  jury  on  the  law  of  homi- 
cide. He  said  he  sometimes  differed  with  your  rulings, 
but  he  was  delighted  with  your  administration,  and  that 
you  had  made  great  progress  in  the  good  opinions  of  your 
bar.  DeGraffenrcid  (Wm.  K.)  told  me,  at  Atlanta  the 
other  day,  that  your  bar — and  he  thought  the  people,  too — 
were  greatly  pleased  with  your  administration.  One  point 
which  they  both  selected  for  special  praise  was  your  inde- 
pendence and  fairness.  There  are  few  men  to  whom  I  would 
write  as  I  have  written  to  you ;  but  it  is  only  your  due,  and 
if  a  friend  may  not  tell  you  of  pleasant  things,  who  may? 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  19,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  is  Sunday  evening  about  5  o'clock. 
Mr.  Thomas  has  just  gone  home.  He  and  I  went  to  the 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  215 

Methodist  Church  to-day  to  hear  Bishop  Pierce  preach.  It 
was  a  good  sermon,  and  about  as  rich  in  language  and  illus- 
tration as  any  I  ever  heard  from  him.  His  text  was  the 
exhortation  of  Barnabas  to  the  Church  at  Antioch  to  cleave 
unto  God  with  purpose  of  heart.  The  purpose  of  heart 
was  a  full  purpose,  reserving  nothing,  but  determined  in 
all  things  to  do  the  will  of  God.  One  of  his  figures  was, 
that,  as  to  himself,  he  had  felt  this  purpose  as  a  wall  of 
adamant  on  the  one  side,  and  the  other,  the  world,  the  flesh 
and  the  Devil,  shutting  them  out,  and  shutting  him  in,  in 

moral  safety,  etc 

When  we,  or  rather  when  I  returned  home  from  church, 
I  found  your  long  letter  of  yesterday.  This  is  the  longest 
letter  I  ever  got  from  you,  or  anybody  else.  I  had  read 
it  almost  half  through  when  dinner  was  announced,  but  I 
finished  it  before  I  went  to  dinner.  It  touched  many  points, 
and  they  were  all  interesting  to  me.  It  was  a  deeply  in- 
teresting letter  to  me.  The  theme  in  it,  the  most  interest- 
ing, was  my  children.  What  you  think  of  them  was  partly 
suspected  before,  if  not  fully  comprehended,  but  I  confess 
that  its  expression  was  to  me  a  savor  of  exceeding  sweet- 
ness. I  think  it  will  do  me  good  all  the  days  of  my  life, 
unless,  indeed,  my  children  should  hereafter  force  me  to 
abandon  my  own  estimate  of  how  well  they  merit  the  opin- 
ions you  have  expressed  concerning  them.  It  is  one  of  the 
greatest  pleasures  I  have  to  see  them  love  and  reverence 
you,  and  feel  that  they  are  worthy  of  your  high  estimate 
of  them.  There  is  one  subject  in  your  letter  on  which  I 
will  make  a  remark  while  it  is  in  my  mind.  I  allude  to 
what  you  say  about  your  silence  as  to  some  of  my  late 
pleasantries  which  you  say  were  made  at  your  expense,  and 
therefore  did  not  make  you  laugh.  Now,  I  never  expected 
you  to  acknowledge  them  by  saying  that  you  had  laughed 
over  them.  I  never  expected  you  to  do  more  than  ac- 
knowledge "a  touch,"  as  the  fencers  do  when  touched  by 
the  foil — the  foil  that  covers  the  sharp  point  that  would 
make  a  wound  but  for  the  friendly  covering.  Now,  the 
humor  of  my  hits  at  you,  if  humor  there  was,  was  the 
point,  and  my  playful  motive  the  covering  which  disarmed 
it  of  its  power  to  pierce 


2l6  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  23,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — In  my  last 

letter,  I  intended  to  say  a  great  many  things  which  occurred 
to  me  at  the  time,  but  which  I  was  not  in  the  mood  to  say 
then.  I  was  in  one  of  my  states  when  nothing  seems  to  be 
worth  the  doing  of  it,  and  when  I  hastened,  therefore,  to 
the  end  of  my  letter.  One  of  the  omitted  things  was  that 
I  had  read  the  article  in  the  Westminster,  on  "Social  Or- 
ganism," before  I  got  your  letter  about  it,  and  had  formed 
the  distinct  intention  of  calling  your  attention  to  it,  as  show- 
ing an  almost  marvelous  coincidence  with  your  views  on 
that  subject.  I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  coincidence, 
but  not  half  so  much  with  the  speculation  itself,  as  I  have 
with  some  of  your  speculations  in  conversation  and  letters 
on  the  same  theme.  It  was  truly  tedious,  as  you  charac- 
terized it,  and  I  did  not  read  the  whole  of  it.  I  read 
enough  to  perfectly  get  the  run  of  it.  There  are  a  great 
many  things  which,  in  this  clay  of  wonts,  WORDS,  WORDS, 
I  read  in  the  same  way.  They  are  such  things  as  1  am  not 
willing  to  leave  totally  unread,  and  yet,  which  I  cannot 
afford  to  peruse  through  all  of  the  platitudes,  and  common- 
places, and  repetitions  which  are  employed  to  invest  them. 
I  therefore  pick  out  such  of  the  real  grains  as  are  obvious 
to  inspection,  and  leave  all  the  rest  as  chaff.  No  doubt  my 
leavings  of  chaff  often  contain  some  grains  of  wheat.  .  . 
Have  you  seen  "A.  B.  's  "  echo  of  the  "  Cato-like  lamen- 
tations "  of  "that  virtuous  magistrate,"  Judge  Holt,  over 
the  abomination  of  desolation  that  will  result  from  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court  in  poor  Jones'  case?  I  saw 
it  in  a  very  conspicuous  place  in  tlie  Constitutionalist  yesterday. 
"That  virtuous  magistrate!"  To  say  the  least  of  it,  that 
is  a  very  easy  virtue  which  manifests  itself  in  punishing  the 
crimes  of  other  people,  and  that  virtue  is  still  more  easy 
which  inflicts  the  punishment  without  troubling  itself  to  in- 
vestigate whether  the  crime  has  been  committed  or  not. 
To  the  practice  of  this  virtue,  nothing  is  requisite,  but  free 
rein  to  a  savage  heart.  The  natural  gravitation  of  malice 
and  blood-thirstiness  will  accomplish  the  result.  "  I'~acilis 
descensus  Arcnii."  To  the  honor  of  mankind,  this  ' '  species  " 
of  "virtue"  is  rare,  and  when  found  is  generally  worked 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2  \"J 

up  as  the  material  for  executioners.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  lose 
my  patience  under  demagogical  censures  of  my  public  acts. 
It  is  hard  to  remain  peaceful  under  misrepresentation  and 
obloquy,  when  you  are  conscious  of  holding  a  rod  which 
could  smite  your  assailant.  It  is  hard  to  even  bide  your 
time.  I  can  do  it,  but  I  say  it  is  hard / 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  29,  1860. 

DCAR  BROTHER — I  have 

finished  the  opinion  in  Jones'  case.  I  just  concluded  to 
throw  overboard  my  beautiful  theory,  indicating  the  con- 
sistency of  the  law  in  punishing  drunk  men  for  murder. 
It  costs  me  a  pang  to  do  it;  for  I  have  got  quite  in  love 
with  it.  I  think  it  would  give  me  more  reputation  with  in- 
tellectual people  than  anything  else  I  have  written  ;  but  it 
makes  the  opinion  too  long.  I  think  the  sacrifice  is  needed, 
and  I  shall  make  it.  You  can't  know  how  much  virtue  I 
am  showing,  unless  you  knew  u'hat  a  good  thing-  it  is.  .  . 

There  is  a  great  clamor  about  this  decision  among  the 
people,  I  hear.  Several  men  in  this  county  say  they  are 
against  the  court  on  account  of  it.  I  suppose  it  is  so  else- 
where. Let  it  be  so.  I  am  rather  glad  of  it ;  I  know  they 
can't  stand  the  argument.  I  think  my  day  will  come,  but 
I  would  rather  have  my  day,  as  it  is,  than  theirs.  I  am  right 
and  know  it,  and  have  demonstrated  it.  All  the  clamors 
of  Bedlam — and  the  clamors  of  this  world  are  Bedlam 
clamors — can't  make  me  regret  it,  or  doubt  it.  I  will  not 
say  I  have  contempt  for  the  opinions  of  mankind,  for  that 
is  not  the  feeling.  I  prefer  to  have  their  favorable  opinions, 
and  do  many  things  to  obtain  them.  It  is  more  pleasant 
on  many  accounts  to  have  their  opinions  on  your  side;  but 
I  do  have  an  utter  disregard  for  them  as  an  index  of  truth. 
There  are  several  men  whose  opinions  against  my  own 
would  lead  me  to  examine  mine  with  great  care — that  is 
all.  I  have  often  done  so  before,  and  changed  my  opinion 
on  re-examination ;  but  even  that  has  been  in  cases  where 
I  had  not  before  made  much,  if  any,  special  examination. 
The  clamors  of  a  mob,  however  large  and  respectable  in  the 
general  acceptance  of  the  term,  would  scarcely  have  that 
effect.  They  would  not  make  me  re-examine  when  I  had 
21  * 


2l8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

examined  the  case  well  before,  but  would,  where  the  first 
examination  had  been  slight,  and  the  opinion  formed  on 
it  not  strong 


The  decision  referred  to  in  the  two  foregoing  letters  was 
the  celebrated  one  pronounced  by  him  in  the  case  of  Jones 
i's.  The  State,  noted  so  conspicuously  in  Judge  Blcckley's 
paper,  given  on  a  preceding  page. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  5,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  this  evening 

finished  the  opinion  in  Jones'  case,  and  turned  it  over  to 
Charley  to  cop}-  for  me.  I  will  send  you  a  copy  by  Wed- 
nesday's mail,  I  hope.  It  is  fourteen  pages  long,  but  I 
think  the  public  will  read  it.  I  have  put  it  in  readable 
shape  for  the  general  reader.  I  had  a  much  greater  affec- 
tion for  the  bantling  several  days  ago  than  I  have  now.  I 
still  think  I  have  cut  the  Gordian  knot  about  punishing 
drunken  men  for  their  actions,  consistently  with  general 
legal  principles,  and  of  yet  allowing  drunkenness  to  be  used, 
as  an  instrument  of  evidence,  to  throw  light  wherever  it  can 
throw  it,  either  on  the  physical  or  mental  clement  of  crime. 
In  other  words,  it  is  a  satisfactory  solution  to  me  of  a  prob- 
lem not  before  solved  to  my  satisfaction.  I  had  intended 
to  write  a  piece  for  the  newspapers  about  the  clamors  against 
the  court,  but  I  have,  for  the  present  at  least,  lost  my  in- 
terest in  the  subject 

\Vho  is  "Fair  Play"  that  writes  in  the  Macon  Tclcgrapli, 
protesting  against  your  name  being  mixed  up  with  the 
Presidency?  I  am  sure  he  expresses  your  sentiments,  and 
I  should  like  to  know  who  he  it*.  Did  I  tell  you  that  Jack 
Lane  is  going  to  the  Milledgeville  convention,  but  not  as  a 
delegate?  Me  said  that,  as  he  was  one  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee who  called  the  convention,  lie  preferred  not  to  be  a 
delegate.  You  might  write  him  a  letter  giving  him  your 
wishes  in  regard  to  your  name  being  kept  entirely  out  of 
the  convention. 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS. 
[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  17,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Now,  you  needed 

not  to  tell  me  that  you  would  not  speak  to  anybody  else, 
as  you  would  to  me,  concerning-  your  speeches  ;  nor  did  you 
need  to  make  the  least  apology  for  speaking  so  to  me.  I 
think  it  a  legitimate  pleasure  that  every  man  feels  in  a  sense 
of  having  done  anything  well,  and  in  having  others  to  en- 
tertain the  same  opinion  of  it.  I  don't  think  there  is  any 
indelicacy  in  expressing  one's  true  opinion  of  his  own  per- 
formance to  another,  who  is  interested  in  it,  and  who  can 
receive  the  opinion  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  was  com- 
municated— knowing  full  well  that  men  often  entertain  good 
opinions  of  their  performances,  whether  they  express  them 
or  not.  You  need  not  hesitate  to  express  to  me  the  best 
opinion  you  may  have  of  anything  you  may  have  done,  for 
it  gives  me  as  much  pleasure  as  it  does  you ;  and  I  know, 
from  experience,  it  is  a  pleasure  which  can  never  be  fully 
enjoyed,  either  on  the  part  of  the  one  or  the  other,  unless 
there  is  some  one  to  share  it  and  sympathize  with  it. 
There  is  nothing  truer,  in  all  my  experience,  than  that  all 
pleasures  are  doubled,  and  all  sorrows  divided,  by  being 
truly  shared  with  one  true  and  sympathizing  heart.  I  am 
glad  you  like  Harris  as  a  judge,  and  that  he  is  gaining  in 
the  good  opinion  of  his  bar.  He  is  a  man  I  like.  He  has 
his  own  peculiarities,  as  all  real  men  have;  and  he  has,  be- 
sides, a  bottom  of  sincerity  and  honor  which  very  fcic 
men  do  have.  He  is  a  favorite  with  me. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.] 

SPARTA,  May  i,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  begin  to 

believe  the  Charleston  Convention  will  end  in  a  row,  and 
that  Black  Republicanism  will  be  triumphant.  The  Demo- 
cratic part}',  instead  of  being  concentrated  against  the  pub- 
lic enemy,  presents  the  spectacle  of  quarreling  about  the 
ownership  of  the  House,  while  the  burglars  are  rifling  it. 


22O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  11.  S.  ] 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  May  1 8,  1860. 

DKAR  BROTIIKR — I  have  been  very  busy,  or  I  would  have 
written  you  sooner.  Tluveatt  will  to-day  send  you  a  tele- 
graphic dispatch  which  came  here  for  you  yesterday,  and  I 
inclose  you  another  of  the  same  import,  and  from  the  same 
person,  and  by  one  day,  of  earlier  date.  I  opened  them 
both,  in  order  to  see  whether  the}7  ought  to  be  sent  by 
special  messenger.  You  have,  of  course,  seen  Mr.  Toombs' 
letter.  You  are  right  about  him.  His  intimation  that  the 
Northern  Democrats  had  attempted  to  interpolate  into 
the  party  creed  the  doctrine  that  a  Territorial  Legislature 
has  the  power  to  abolish  slavery  is  very  extraordinary. 
How  did  they  attempt  it?  All  the}'  wanted  was  the  Cin- 
cinnati platform,  and  this  is  just  the  Kansas  Bill  of  1854011 
that  point — nothing  more,  nothing  less.  The  platform 
adopts  the  bill.  When  that  bill  Avas  on  its  passage,  they 
said  then — just  what  they  say  now — that  the  Territorial  Leg- 
islature would  have  the  power  to  regulate  slavery  as  they 
might  please.  We  said  not.  Each  side  was  willing  to  trust 
its  own  version  of  the  Constitution,  out  of  which  the  differ- 
ence of  opinion  grew;  hence,  provision  was  made  in  the  bill 
for  referring  the  question  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Mr. 
Toombs  liked  that  arrangement,  and  advocated  it,  when  he 
had  no  decision  of  the  court  on  the  subject,  and  no  expres- 
sion of  opinion.  NOIU,  he  has  got  a  decision  in  his  favor  so 
far  as  the  power  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  can  be  de- 
rived from  a  transfer  by  Congress,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
court  obiter;  also,  upon  the  power  as  derived  from  the  prin- 
ciple of  self-government.  He  was  content  to  refer  the  ques- 
tion to  the  court  in  utter  ignorance  of  their  opinion,  and  he 
is  not  satisfied  now  for  the  reference  to  stand  as  it  was  made, 
when  the  court  has  declared  their  opinion  in  his  favor. 
For  my  part,  I  like  the  arrangement  none  the  less  since 
finding  that  the  judge  is  in  my  favor.  True,  Douglas  de- 
nies that  the  court  has  decided  his  question,  and  he  is  right 
in  the  denial.  But  if  not  decided,  it  yet  remains  to  be  de- 
cided according  to  the  original  bargain  and  provisions  01 
the  Kansas  Bill,  and  I  have  quite  as  much  confidence  now 
as  I  had  at  first  in  a  decision  in  our  favor.  The  opinion  in 
our  fai'or  has  not  impaired  my  confidence;  I  am  (mite  as 
ready  now,  as  I  was  at  first,  to  tolerate  the  contrary  confi- 


JUDGE   L1NTON   STEPHENS.  221 

dencc  of  our  allies.  All  we  can  require  of  them  under  the 
agreement  is  to  stand  by  the  decision  already  made  in  the  one 
branch  of  the  power,  and  by  that  which  shall  be  made  on 
the  other  branch  of  it.  This  they  expressly  reaffirmed 
their  resolution  to  do.  What  more  can  we  require  of  them 
without  a  violation  of  the  understanding  ?  I  had  a  letter  from 
Reese,  (of  Washington,  Win.  M.)  and  he  says  your  letter 
expresses  his  views  exactly.  I  hear  that  Glenn  (Cobb's 
brother-in-law)  is  against  him.  I  think  the  letters  of  Mr. 
Cobb  and  Mr.  Toombs  will  do  good  in  a  way  not  intended 
by  them.  They  will  break  clown  the  Richmond  movement 
by  opening  the  door  to  be  represented  at  Baltimore.  A 
nciv  delegation  from  Georgia  will  not  secede,  and  such  a  new 
delegation  will  now  go  as  the  representative  of  both  branches 
of  the  party.  Good-bye. 

LIXTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SAVANNA 1 1,  J unc  15,  1 860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — As  to  your 

request  that  I  may  so  arrange  my  will  as  to  provide  against 
a  separation  of  families  among  your  negroes  willed  to  me, 
I  will  certainly  attend  to  it  if  I  should  outlive  you.  There- 
is  a  provision  in  my  present  will,  applicable  to  all  the  negroes 
I  may  own  at  my  death,  securing  them  from  the  separation 
of  families.  I  intend  to  change  my  will  in  some  particulars 
if  I  live  in  health  long  enough  to  do  so  after  getting  home 
once  more,  and  I  will  look  carefully  to  that  point.  I  wrould 
like  to  talk  to  you  about  it,  not  only  so  far  as  your  negroes 
are  concerned,  but  as  to  the  proper  provision  covering  all 

my  negroes We  broke  through  our 

new  schedule  this  evening,  and,  after  sitting  until  3  o'clock, 
went  back  at  five  and  heard  arguments  until  seven.  This 
we  did  to  accommodate  the  Augusta  bar,  who  had  a  case  in 
which  eight  or  ten  of  them  were  to  make  speeches,  and 
which  they  were  anxious  to  finish  this  evening,  and  assured 
us  they  would  finish,  if  we  would  go  back  and  hear  them 
after  dinner.  When  we  were  going  back  after  dinner,  Tom 
Miller  said  he  did  not  like  being  brought  back  after  dinner, 
for  he  wanted  to  go  to  Thunderbolt  to  get  somf  crabs.  I 
told  him  if  he  was  so  unreasonable  as  to  complain  of  that 


222  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

which  he  had  himself  requested,  he  would  be  very  apt  to 
find  crabs  in  the  court-house,  without  going  to  Thunderbolt 
for  them.  This  was  said  in  a  considerable  crowd  at  the 
court-house  door,  just  before  going  in,  and  the  miserable 
pun  raised  a  great  laugh.  The  laugh  subsided,  and  Judge 
Lumpkin  added,  "Yes,  sir;  and  we  promise  you  they  shall 
not  be  soft  crabs  at  that."  Again  the  crowd  exploded  in 
a  laugh.  They  really  seemed  to  think  all  this  was  excel- 
lent wit.  Well,  the  result  of  our  effort  to  work  off  the 
case  (which  had  already  been  largely  argued)  was,  that  we 
only  worked  off  one  speech  from  Judge  Starnes.  He  spoke 
two  solid  hours,  and  five  minutes  over,  after  assuring  us 
that  he  would  not  speak  an  hour,  and  that  they  would  all 
get  through  in  two  hours.  Any  man  makes  a  great  mis- 
take to  speak  longer  than  his  promise  when  he  is  speaking 
before  a  court.  After  he  passes  his  self-appointed  limit,  he 
makes  the  judges  mad  and  impatient.  They  feel  as  if  they 

had   a  grievance 

And  now,  for  the  want  of 

anything  better  to  write,  I  will  tell  you  of  another  saying 
of  mine  the  other  night  at  Judge  Henry's.  One  of  the 

Misses  -  rather  sets  up  for  a  wit  and  a  woman  of 

learning.  She  had  on  hand  a  piece  of  knitting,  which  she- 
said  was  Penelope's  web.  I  asked  her  if  she  was  pursuing 
Penelope's  plan  of  unraveling  it  as  she  went.  She  said, 
"Oh,  no!"  "Well,  then,  "said  I,  "  so  fat,  you  have  shown 
only  a  difference  between  your  web  and  Penelope's — hers 
having  been  constantly  unraveled  as  it  was  made — yours 
going  on  to  a  rapid  completion ;  I  suppose  its  likeness  must 
consist  in  having  a  promised  marriage  at  the  end  of  it." 
Her  reply  was,  "  I  acknowledge  you  have  r-a-t-h-e-r  got 
me." 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  June  28,  1860. 

DICAK  BROTH  KK — The  first 

case  we  had  here  was  a  bank  case.  We  have  decided  it 
against  the  bank  directors,  and  all  agree  in  opinion.  It  is 
Lyon'scase,  but  I  shall  also  give  my  views  on  it.  This  was 
a  case  aj^ainst  directors  for  an  excessive  indebtedness  in- 
curred under  their  administration.  Mr.  Toombs'  cases  were 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  223 

against  stockholders,  and  were  based  upon  a  different  clause 
in  the  charter.  This  case  does  not,  therefore,  decide  his 
point;  but  I  am  against  him  on  his  point.  Jim  Johnson 
argued  this  case  against  the  directors,  and  argued  it  far 
better  than  Dougherty  did  the  case  against  stockholders. 
Jim  Johnson  argues  a  case  upon  the  principles  and  philos- 
ophy of  the  law  in  a  style  not  surpassed  by  any  man  in 
Georgia.  But  I  must  now  go  to  consultation.  This  has 
been  written  in  my  smoking  time  just  after  dinner.  .  .  . 

P.  S. — Just  as  I  am  closing,  a  storm  is  brewing.  Charley 
has  just  come  in,  too,  and  told  me  that  he  has  just  learned, 
through  a  letter  from  his  wife,  that  poor  old  General  Sayre 
is  dead.  He  died  day  before  yesterday. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  June  29,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — It  is  nearly    1 1   o'clock  at  night,  and  I 
have  just  returned  from  hearing  Governor  Johnson*  speak 

in  Concert  Hall The  Governor  spoke 

very  well  to-night,  but  he  did  not  speak  as  effectively  as 
usual.  He  had  a  house  full,  and  I  thought  that  about  hah 
the  crowd,  who  demonstrated  at  all,  seemed  to  be  with  him. 
But  I  thought  he  had  as  many  with  him  at  the  beginning 
as  he  had  at  the  end.  I  will  give  you  the  particulars 
when  we  meet,  if  we  should  think  of  it  then,  or  perhaps  in 
some  letter,  when  I  have  more  time.  For  the  present,  1 
will  only  add  that  he  does  not  appreciate,  as  I  do,  the  point 
of  greatest  strength  in  his  position — that  is,  the  danger 
of  rendering  slavery  odious  to  our  allies,  and  to  the  world, 
by  making  it  aggressive — by  forcing  it  upon  any  unwilling 
people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  ark  of  safety  and 
progress  is  the  doctrine  of  perfect  and  universal  non-inter- 
vention, leaving  all  people  to  please  themselves  upon  the 
subject,  forcing  it  upon  none,  and  securing  it  to  all  who 
desire  it.  If  this  principle  becomes  established  as  an  inter- 
State  doctrine,  and  would  become  established  as  an  inter- 
national doctrine,  it  will,  of  logical  necessity,  become  after- 
wards the  doctrine  amon<j  individuals  of  the  same  State  or 


Hcrschel  V.  Johnson  was  then  a  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 


224  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

nation,  and  every  man,  the  world  over,  will  have  slaves  if 
he  wants  them,  and  is  able  to  buy  them.  The  whole  battle 
of  slavery  turns  upon  the  single  issue  of  its  moral  right  or 
moral  wrong.  If  it  is  wrong,  everybody  ought  to  do  all 
that  can  be  done,  consistently  with  a  prudent  regard  to  cir- 
cumstances, to  abolish  it ;  but  if  it  is  right,  everybody  ought 
to  have  it  who  wants  it  and  can  get  it — States  or  individuals. 
All  legal  prohibitions  of  it  would  disappear  from  the  face  of 
the  earth  if  you  once  establish  the  doctrine  that  it  is  no 
question  of  right  or  wrong,  but  is  only  a  question  of  polit- 
ical economy.  If  it  is  a  question  of  political  economy,  it 
must  be  a  matter  of  fire  trade,  neither  forced  nor  prohibited 
anywhere,  but  left  to  the  laws  of  free  trade  everywhere, 
not  going  in  point  of  fact  to  all  places,  but  prohibited  by 
/<77t'  in  no  place — free  as  the  cotton-plant  and  sugar-cane 
are  to  go  anywhere,  but,  like  them,  taking  root  only  where 
it  may  be  found  profitable.  Douglas  is  the  great  champion 
of  this  great  principle  on  which  rest  our  hopes  of  the  pro- 
gress and  salvation  of  slavery ;  and  it  is  black  ingratitude,  as 
well  as  suicidal  folly,  for  the  South  to  assail  him  or  aban- 
don him.  But  good-night. 

Affectionately,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACON,  SUNDAY  MORNING,  July  8,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  commencement 

sermon  is  to  be  preached  to-day  by  Dr.  Joseph  C.  Stiles. 
Have  you  ever  heard  him?  I  heard  him  once,  about  seven 
years  ago,  and  thought  he  was  the  greatest  orator  I  hail 
ever  seen  in  the  pulpit.  I  must  go  and  hear  him  again  to- 
day, and  see  how  that  impression  may  be  sustained  or 
changed.  I  wish  you  could  hear  him  with  me;  and  I  have 
a  distinct  recollection  of  having  wished,  when  I  heard  him, 
that  you  and  Kmm  could  have  heard  him,  too — so  greatly 
does  any  pleasure  depend  upon  its  being  shared  with  others 
who  are  near  and  dear  to  us! 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  July  8,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  wrote  you  a  letter  this  morning,  and 
mailed  it  on  my   way   to   church.      Since   then,  I    have  re- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  225 

ceivcd  yours  of  the  6th  instant,  saying-  that  you  were  feel- 
ing- much  better,  and  that  you  had  had  a  little  rain  and  a 
great  deal  of  cooling  in  the  air.  I  am  truly  glad  to  hear  it. 
So  my  notions  about  the  rains,  as  expressed  to  you  this 
morning,  turn  out  to  be  correct.  I  think  you  have  got  still 

more  rain  by  this  time 

And  now,  a  word  as  to  Dr.  Stiles'  sermon  to-day:  His 
subject  was  the  ''Gospel  as  an  instrument  of  education — 
the  sole  instrument  of  educating  men  out  of  their  great  ab- 
errations, and  leading  them  back  to  their  first  great  estate 
of  their  likeness  to  God."  It  was  a  grand  discourse.  His 
soul  seemed  to  be  all  on  fire  with  his  great  theme,  and  to 
be  throwing  off,  not  scintillations  nor  corruscations,  but 
masses  of  sheet-flame.  After  such  a  general  account,  it  is 
perilous  to  give  specimens;  but  I  will  try  a  few,  begging 
you  to  imagine  what  infinite  force  was  added  to  them  by 
powerful  language,  which  I  do  not  remember,  and  still 
more  by  the  noble  and  inspired  aspect  of  the  orator.  He 
pointed  out  some  of  those  great  aberrations.  One  of  them 
was  a  constant  proneness  in  man  to  exalt  the  things  of  Time 
above  the  things  of  Eternity — to  ignore  Eternity  and  make 
Time  all  in  all.  The  cry  of  his  fallen  nature  is,  What  shall 
I  eat,  what  shall  I  drink,  and  wherewithal  shall  I  be 
clothed?  He  asked  what  a  great  aberration  this  was !  The 
smallest  imaginable  fraction  of  the  first  breath  of  Methuse- 
lah bore  a  larger  proportion  to  the  rest  of  Methuselah's 
life  than  Time  bears  to  Eternity.  Time  is  but  the  egg-shell 
prison  of  the  bird  :  he  is  formed  and  hatched  there,  but  be- 
fore you  can  have  the  bird  in  the  glory  of  his  creation,  he 
must/vY/v'  out,  and  soar,  and  sing,  and  flock  in  the  forests, 
and  through  the  grand  empyrean.  Man  has  his  origin  in 
Time,  but  before  he  achieves  his  true  glory,  or  even  enters 
upon  his  real  existence,  he  must  burst  through  these  cere- 
ments of  Time,  which  restrain  the  heaving  of  his  immortal 
nature,  and  fly  to  his  great  possession  at  the  throne  of  God, 
where  he  shall  be  a  joint-heir  with  the  Son  of  God.  An- 
other of  these  great  aberrations  was  man's  proneness  to  set 
himself  up  as  independent  of  God.  What  stupendous 
folly!  What  alarming  insanity !  Man,  without  God,  is  a 
swift  chariot  without  a  reinsman — a  storm-tossed  ship  with- 
out a  rudder — an  affrighted  stag,  plunging  through  the 
forest,  without  an  eye ! 

22* 


226  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

These  arc  a  few,  out  of  a  large  number,  of  his  striking 
and  glowing  illustrations.  To  feel  the  force  and  beauty  01 
these  as  I  did,  you  would  not  only  have  to  imagine  the  lan- 
guage and  action  with  which  they  were  delivered,  but  also 
the  preceding  parts  which  had  prepared  the  audience  for 
the  full  effect  of  them.  In  my  judgment,  he  is  the  prince 
of  preachers.  I  greatly  wonder  that  his  fame  is  not  much 
greater  than  it  is 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACON,  July  10,  1860. 

DKAR  BROTHER — I  have  just  returned 

from  a  ride  out  into  the  country  to  a  beautiful  pond,  where 
I  took  a  swim.  I  went  to  the  same  place  and  took  a  bath 
on  the  night  of  the  5th  instant.  Our  landlord  sends  such 
of  us  as  wish  to  go  in  his  carriage.  The  pond  is  at  a  place 
of  his  about  a  mile  out  of  town.  It  is  fed  by  springs,  and 
is  very  clear.  There  never  was  a  more  beautiful  place  for 
swimming.  Judge  Lumpkin  went  out  the  first  night,  and 
went  into  the  water,  but  didn't  swim,  for  he  don't  know 
how.  The  company  had  some  sport  out  of  my  efforts  to 
teach  him.  He  went  into  the  frolic  with  the  spirit  of  a 
boy 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  July  12,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  take  a  few  moments,  before  going  to 
the  court-house,  to  drop  you  a  line.  Yesterday,  we  had  no 
court,  but  attended  the  commencement.  I  have  no  remarks 
to  make,  except  that  it  was  a  poor  affair,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  commencement  oration  by  Dr.  Lipscomb,*  of 
Alabama.  That  was  a  very  entertaining  address;  it  was 
highly  poetical,  in  thought,  in  parts  of  it.  It  was  not  writ- 
ten. I  will  give  you  a  specimen,  which,  I  think",  has  the 
true  ring  of  beauty  and  poetry:  he  called  the  Gulf-stream 
"The  Wandering  Summer  of  the  Sea."  I  never  heard  the 
idea  before;  nor  has  Judge  Nisbet,  or  Lumpkin,  or  any- 
body else  whom  I  have  heard  speak-  of  it 


'•''  Dr.  hipscomb  was  afterwards  Chancellor  of  the  Univ< 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  227 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II .  S.  ] 

MACON,  July  13,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  learn  to-day,  through 

Charley  and  Judge  Lumpkin,  that  Ben  Hill  says  that  he  has 
been  consulted  by  the  Bell  and  Everett  men  of  the  North 
to  get  his  opinion  whether  a  combination  between  them  and 
the  Douglas  men  at  the  North  would  hurt  them  at  the 
South,  and  that  he  has  answered  them  to  make  the  com- 
bination. Ben  talks  against  the  seceders.  The  three  par- 
ties— Douglas,  Breckinridge  and  Bell  men — are  now  sta- 
tioned for  a  triangular  fight,  without  any  certainty,  on  the 
part  of  either,  as  to  which  of  the  other  two  will  prove  his 
real  antagonist  in  the  end,  and  with  a  rational  disposition, 
therefore,  on  the  part  of  each,  to  weaken  that  one  which, 
for  the  time,  gives  most  promise  of  final  strength.  It  is  a 
category  very  promising  of  combinations  and  bargains,  and 
nobody  can  tell  what  may  yet  be  effected  by  trading.  The 
temptation  and  facility  for  trading  is  likely  to  produce  it. 

Charley*  says  he  heard  Judge  Lumpkin  break  loose,  the 
other  night,  upon  the  subject  of  my  resignation.  He  said 
he  had  not  a  word  to  say  in  opposition  to  it,  and  had  not 
tried  to  dissuade  me  from  it,  because  my  reasons  for  it  were 
good ;  but  he  would  say  that  there  was  no  man  in  Georgia 
who  could  fill  my  place.  He  said  he  meant  just  what  he 
said — that  my  equal  in  the  position  could  not  be  found  in 
Georgia ;  that  he  would  rather  have  me  as  an  associate  on 
the  bench  than  any  man  he  had  ever  had ;  that  I  had  an 
absolute  and  undeviating  purpose  to  administer  the  law  in- 
dependently of  all  personal  considerations ;  and  that,  from 
his  experience,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  find  such  a  man. 
He  went  on  to  say  how  great  my  ability  was,  etc.  I  write 
you  this  because  I  feel  some  gratification  at  it,  and  think 
you  may  feel  some  also.  It  did  not  surprise  me  to  hear 
that  he  expressed  such  sentiments;  for  I  had  thought  be- 
fore that  he  entertained  them,  but  was  surprised  to  hear 
that  he  had  said,  in  so  public  a  manner,  things  which  would 
be  distasteful  and  disagreeable  to  a  good  many  people  of 
ambition  and  influence.  He  and  I  held  court  to-day  with- 
out Judge  Lyon,  who  has  gone  home  while  cases  in  which 
he  has  been  of  counsel  arc  up.  In  our  consultation,  this  evcn- 


*  lion.  Charles  W .  DuBose,  then  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia. 


228  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ing,  we  had  no  trouble  at  all,  and  I  do  not  think  either  one 
of  us  yielded  a  conviction  he  had.  I  am  sure  I  did  not, 
and  I  don't  think  he  did.  Me  told  me  the  other  day  that 
he  agreed  with  an  opinion  I  had  expressed,  to  the  effect 
that  judges  who  interchange  views  on  a  question,  and  are 
all  animated  with  a  single  desire  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  can 
seldom  differ  in  the  end 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACON,  July  15,  1860. 

PKAR  BKOTHKK — This  is  Sunday  evening.  I  have  had  no 
letter  from  you  to-day.  Your  letter  of  the  I2th,  which  I 
got  yesterday,  telling  me  of  the  sickness  of  "the  Parson," 
made  me  anxious  to  get  another  to-day  that  I  might  hear 
how  he  had  got.  Poor  old  Parson!  I  do  hope  he  is  well 
again.  By  the  way,  however,  if  he  should  be  well,  don't 
let  him  know  that  I  said  "poor  old  Parson."  He  would 
possibly  like  that  quite  as  little  as  he  did  Jesse  Woodall's 
recollection  of  having  gone  to  school  to  him. 

I  had  a  good  laugh  at  Judge  Lumpkin  last  night  at  the 
supper-table.  His  wife  and  son,  Miller,  arrived  here  yes- 
terday morning  before  breakfast,  very  unexpectedly  to  him  ; 
so  when  he  was  about  to  deliver  an  opinion  in  a  long  case, 
yesterday  morning,  he  prefaced  it  with  an  apology  for  the 
desultory  manner  in  which  he  expected  to  do  it — saying 
that  while  he  was  engaged  in  preparing  the  opinion  that 
morning,  circumstances  beyond  his  control  had  broke  in  upon 
him.  This  manner  of  alluding  to  his  wife's  arrival  created 
quite  a  merriment  among  those  who  knew  of  her  arrival, 
for  the  old  fellow  said  it  with  great  humor.  So,  last  night 
I  told  Mrs.  Lumpkin,  who  sat  right  opposite  to  me  at  the 
supper-table,  that  she  ought  to  haul  the  Judge  "over  the 
coals."  She,  of  course,  wanted  to  know  why,  and  I  told 
her  because  the  Judge  had  called  her  "  a  circumstance."  The 
Judge's  reply  to  me  was,  "  Ain't  you  ashamed  to  report  me 
so?  I  said  nothing  about  a  circumstance;  I  said  circmn- 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  22Q 

stances."  "So  you  did,"  said  I;  "but  you  said  circum- 
stances had  broken  in  upon  you,  and  as  I  knew  nothing  had 
broken  in  upon  you,  except  your  wife  and  son,  I  took  Mrs. 
Lumpkin  to  be  one  circumstance  and  Miller  another." 
With  a  fine  affectation  of  annoyance,  he  said:  "Ain't 
you  ashamed  to  do  me  so?"  and  the  whole  of  our  end  of 
the  table  took  a  hearty  laugh  at  this  transpiration,  in  his 
wife's  presence,  of  the  manner  in  which  her  name  had  been 
handled  behind  her  back.  Mrs.  Lumpkin  said  she  thought 
my  inference  was  a  sound  one,  and  indeed  she  didn't  see 
how  there  could  be  any  escape  from  it.  Before  this,  the 
Judge,  affecting  the  air  of  a  man  who  was  caught  and  had 
resigned  himself  to  martyrdom,  said  to  me,  "I'll  tell  you 
now,  she'll  believe  anything  you  tell  her,  for  she  has  taken 
up  a  notion  that  you  have  got  one  of  the  honestest  faces  she 
ever  saw. "  His  quisical  and  complaining  manner  of  saying 
she  would  believe  anything  I  might  tell  her  raised  another 
roar.  I  then  went  on  to  tell  Mrs.  Lumpkin  that  I  had  not 
told  her  the  ivorst,  for  he  said  "circumstances  beyond  his 
control"  in  a  manner  that  indicated  that  he  was  well-nigh  a 
ruined  man,  and  that  he  would  have  controlled  them  if  he 
could.  "But,"  said  I,  "he  didn't  fool  anybody  at  all,  for 
through  all  his  assumed  air  of  martyrdom  and  ruin,  his 
secret  delight  was  plainly  apparent  to  all,  and  the  way  every- 
body read  the  story  was,  that  he  was  so  tickled  at  the  pleas- 
ant surprise  he  had  had,  he  couldn't  help  telling  right  out 
in  the  court-house  that  his  wife  had  come  to  see  him — 
his  joy  had  made  him  incontinent."  This  pleased  her 
very  evidently,  and  pleased  him  also,  and  was  regarded  by 
the  company  as  a  most  just  analysis  and  pleasant  hit. 
I  have  not  told  you  all  that  was  said,  but  I  have  given 
you  the  thread  on  which  you  can  string  other  such  things 
as  you  may  imagine  to  have  been  appropriate  to  the  occa- 
sion. On  the  whole,  it  was  a  very  pleasant  supper-table 
passage,  and  a  little  play  in  which  I  suspect  that  the  lady 
figured  very  much  to  her  liking  and  to  her  husband's  gratifi- 
cation. By  the  way,  the  reason  of  her  coming  here  was 
the  news  she  had  got  that  the  Judge  was  sick.  He  was  quite 
unwell,  a  few  days  ago,  but  his  wife  found  him  quite  well 
on  her  arrival.  And  now  I  will  say  that  I  have  been 
"broken  in  "  upon  by  two  terrible  bores  since  I  commenced 
writing  this  letter.  Before  I  had  finished  the  first  page, 


23O  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

,  of  ,  came  in  and  sat  and  talked  for  three 

solid  hours.  He  sat  until  the  supper-gong  was  sounded. 
Then,  immediately  after  supper,  in  popped  -  — ,  and  he 
sat  until  eleven  o'clock.  I  gaped,  and  yawned,  and  told 
him  I  had  some  letters  to  write,  but  all  to  no  effect.  When 
he  continued  to  sit  after  such  hints,  I  concluded  that  he 
certainly  meditated  a  foray  upon  me  in  some  form  or  other, 
and  I  was  at  last  quite  as  much  surprised  as  relieved  when 
he  took  his  hat  and  bade  me  good  night  without  asking  me 
for  anything.  My  solution  of  it  now  is,  that  his  heart 
failed  him  for  the  time.  I  shall  look  out  for  him  in  ike 
morning.  The  reporter's  place  will  be  vacant  at  the  end  of 
this  term  by  the  resignation  of  Martin,  and  I  have  a  suspi- 
cion that  —  -  wants  to  put  in.  That  was  -  — 's  busi- 
ness. —  —  is  also  an  applicant,  and  —  — ,  of  and 
—  of  and  —  — ,  of  —  — .  As  I  am  to  retire  my- 
self at  so  early  a  day,  I  shall  not  take  much  interest  in  the 
appointment  of  Martin's  successor.  The  appointment  is 
made,  as  you  know,  by  the  judges.  The  temperature  here 
is  pleasant,  but  no  prospect  of  rain.  What  is  to  become 
of  the  country?  Good-night.  I  intended  to  write  you  a 
long  letter  this  evening. 

Most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  July  21,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — \Vhat  docs  Mr. 

Toombs  say  about  politics,  or  does  he  refrain  from  the.  topic 
in  your  presence?  What  is  the  reason  for  your  opinion 
that  no  combination  can  be  effected  between  the  Douglas 
and  Bell  men?  You  expressed  such  an  opinion  in  one  of 
your  letters  to  me  the  other  day.  What  do  you  think  are 
the  probable  combinations,  or  antagonisms  and  results? 
It  will  be  some  weeks  before  I  can  sec  you,  and  I  should 
like  to  know  your  general  opinion  of  the  field,  and  of  the 
result  of  the  battle.  Mr.  Thomas  writes  me  that  he  is  afraid 
he  and  I  may  differ,  and  then  tells  me  that  he  favors  a  com- 
bination with  the  Bell  men.  He  says  Cosby  is  really  for 
Douglas,  but  says  he  is  going  to  vote  for  Breckinriclgc.  I 
only  mention  that  as  a  curious  thing.  Yesterday,  I  saw  a 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  23! 

letter  from  Stewart,  of  our  county,  to  Charley,  saying  that 
the  Hancock  people  were  in  a  stir  and  in  a  curious  condi- 
tion of  politics.  He  does  not  go  into  particulars,  nor  does 
he  state  anything  about  it,  but  only  drops  remarks,  from 
which  I  can  discover  the  tendency  of  things.  One  thing 
is,  he  wonders  if  he  shall  at  last  vote  for  Douglas  after  swear- 
ing he  never  would.  He  then  adds  that  Bill  Hunt  tells  him 
it  is  as  easy  to  swear  in  as  it  is  to  swear  out.  Then  again 
he  adds  that  Bill  Hunt,  however,  is  the  only  old-fashioned 
Democrat  who  talks  right  about  it;  and  then  adds  that 
there  is  great  swearing  among  them — some  of  the  Douglas 
men  swearing  that  they  will  never  vote  for  Bell,  and  some 
of  the  Bell  men  swearing  they  will  never  vote  for  Douglas. 
From  all  this,  I  infer  that  the  proposition  for  a  combination 
is  urged  by  some  of  each — the  Douglas  and  the  Bell  men — 
but  strenuously  resisted  by  others  of  each  party.  Was  it 
this  sort  of  feeling  which  you  foresaw  as  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  a  combination?  Is  this  obstacle  greater  than  the 
same  sort  of  obstacle  which  stood  in  the  way  of  the  union 
of  Whigs  and  Democrats  in  the  formation  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Union  party,  and  in  the  formation  of  the  Anti-Know- 
Nothing  party?  I  don't  see  that  the  obstacle  is  greater 
now  than  the  same  obstacle  was  in  each  of  those  cases ;  nor 
indeed  is  it  so  great,  for  the  disintegrations  which  have  oc- 
curred in  party  organizations  within  a  few  years  have  tended 
to  render  the  process  of  disintegration  familiar  to  our  peo- 
ple, and,  therefore,  less  difficult.  But  while  disintegration 
may  be  more  easy,  it  may  yet  be  true  that  the  reformation 
of  disjointed  parts  may  not  be  so.  In  other  words,  that 
our  general  progress  has  been  towards  anarchy,  and  away 
from  integrity  and  union.  But  enough  of  all  this,  too. 
What  now  shall  I  write?  I  am  unwilling  to  quit;  and  yet, 
I  have  nothing  more  to  say 

[  From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MACOX,  July  23,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  done  the  deed!  I  mean  I  have 
sent  my  resignation  to  the  Governor,  to  take  effect,  not  at 
the  end,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  Atlanta  term.  When 
I  say  sent,  1  mean  I  have  it  ready  to  send,  and  shall  have 
it  mailed  to-morrow  morning  along  with  this.  The  Gov- 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ernor,  if  he  should  be  at  home,  will  have  it  in  his  hands 
before  you  get  this  notice  of  it.  I  feel  better.  The  place 
has  worn  me  out.  I  should  like  it  if  I  could  be  sole  judge, 
but  I  do  not  like  a  divided  sceptre.  I  do  not  think  I  have 
the  slightest  relish  for  power  for  its  own  sake,  but  I  like 
what  power  I  may  have  to  be  undivided,  in  order  that  its 
exercise  may  be  guided  by  system  and  symmetry,  and  not 
be  a  "mighty  maze  without  a  plan."  1  feel  a  great  relief 
in  knowing  that  the  word  which  is  to  cut  me  loose  from 
"this  body  of  death"  has  already  been  spoken.  Charley 
says  tell  you  that  he  is  "in  particular  hot  water."  He 

says  he  will  be  terribly  lonesome 

Affectionately,  LIXTON  STKPHKXS. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  November, 

1859,  the  Executive  appointment  of  Judge  Stephens  to  the 
Supreme  Bench  was  gracefully  indorsed.      lie  was  elected, 
without  opposition,  for  the  unexpirecl  term.      The  compli- 
ment therein  implied  loses  nothing  of  its  significance,  or 
gracefulness,  when  it  is  remembered  how  hotly  some  of  the 
preceding  and   succeeding   canvasses,    for   the   like   office, 
have  been  conducted.      Failing  health   induced  him,  how- 
ever, to  resign  his  commission,  as  has  been  seen,  in  July, 

1860.  The    regret    felt    and   expressed  at  the  event  was 
very  general  and  very  sincere,  as  was  the  necessity  of  it 
deplored  ;  nor  was  there  any  one   more   earnest   and   em- 
phatic in  giving  utterance   to  that  feeling  of  regret  than 
the  late  Chief  Justice,  Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  September  8,  1860. 

DKAK  BROTHER — But  let  me 

turn  to  a  lighter  theme;  the  other  one  is  a  painful  one  to 
me.  I  want  to  poke  a  little  fun  at  you  about  a  small  point 
in  your  speech.  There  would  be  no  fun  in  it  if  it  were 
not  for  your  great  character  for  exact  accuracy  in  your 
statements  and  allusions.  Now,  you'  may  open  your  eyes, 
for  I  am  going  to  peck  a  flaw  in  a  scriptural  allusion  which 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  233 

you  made.  You  spoke  of  those  who  held  Stephen  s  clothes 
while  he  was  stoned  to  death.  Now,  I  make  a  point  on 
every  one  of  three  words  which  I  have  underscored — those, 
held  and  Stephen's.  I  shall  take  them  up  in  their  reverse 
order.  In  the  first  place,  then,  so  far  as  the  record  shows, 
(Acts  /th  chapter  and  58th  verse)  there  was  nothing  done 
to  Stephen's  clothes;  the  account  is  that  the  witnesses  did 
something  with  their  clothes — not  Stephen's.  In  the  next 
place,  what  they  did  was  not  to  hold  them,  but  to  lay  them 
at  the  feet  of  somebody.  In  the  third  and  last  place,  the 
clothes  were  guarded  (not  held)  by  one  person  only,  and 
not  by  several,  as  is  implied  in  your  word  "those."  The 
clothes-minder  was  no  less  a  personage  than  Paul.  Now,  I 
want  you  to  review  the  history,  and  either  own  up,  or  tell 
me  why  you  won't.  I  should  like  for  you  to  read  this  scrip- 
tural criticism  of  mine  to  "the  Parson,"  and  write  me  what 
he  says  about  it 

After  quitting  the  bench,  Judge  Stephens  entered  with 
unwonted  zeal  into  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1860.  His 
speeches  in  advocacy  of  the  election  of  the  Douglas-John- 
son ticket  were  the  ablest  he  ever  delivered  on  the  hust- 
ings. No  speeches  of  the  campaign  were  better  reasoned 
from  his  stand-point,  and  they  were  uttered  with  all  the 
nervous  eloquence  despair  only  can  inspire. 

On  the  1 5th  of  October,  he  wrote  his  friend  Johnston: 

MY  DEAR  DICK — And  now, 

one  word  in  relation  to  politics,  in  which  I  feel  more  in- 
terest than  in  anything  else  at  this  time — not  the  interest 
of  an  office-seeker,  for  I  desire  no  office  in  the  world,  but 
the  interest  of  a  citisoi  who  feels  that  he  lives  under  the 
freest  and  best  government  on  earth,  and  is  utterly  opposed 
to  its  destruction  without  eai/sc.  I  am  not  fighting  now  to 
defeat  Lincoln's  election.  To  live  under  his  administration 
will  be  a  great  calamity,  and  to  avert  that  calamity  is  a  suf- 
ficent  aim  to  inspire  the  efforts  of  any  man  who  loves  his 
country.  But  I  am  afraid  that  we  shall  be  reduced  to  the 
alternative  of  living  under  his  administration,  or  resisting 
it  by  force  of  arms.  The  leaders  are  undoubtedly  respon- 
23* 


234  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

siblc  for  the  result.  Posterity  will  hold  them  so.  I  repeat, 
I  am  not  fighting  to  defeat  Lincoln;  I  am  afraid  that  is  im- 
possible; but  I  fight  now  to  prevent  the  "precipitation  "  of 
the  revolution  which  is  intended  to  follow  his  election. 

Nothing  can  defeat    it 

but  the  defeat  of  Lincoln,  (which  is  almost  hopeless)  or  a 
clear  break  down  of  the  Brcckinridge  cause  in  the  South. 
It  is  of  the  last  importance  that  the  popular  vote  of  the 
South,  and  especially  the  majority  vote  of  Georgia,  should 
be  given  against  Brcckinridge.  If  so,  they  may  be  dis- 
couraged from  making  the  attempt.  I  am  now  working 
to  that  end.  This  is  all  so,  but  a  great  number  of  people 
cannot  be  made  to  believe  it.  They  are  as  incredulous  as 
those  were  who  laughed  at  Noah  when  he  preached  the 
flood.  I  trust  that  a  kind  Providence  may  avert  from  their 
incredulity  the  like  terrible  retribution,  which  seems  to 
me  to  be  almost  its  necessary  result.  What  a  causeless 
catastrophe  it  will  be!  and  how  terrible  its  results!  May 
the  God  of  our  great  fathers  preserve  their  degenerate  sens 
in  spite  of  themselves. 

Most  truly  yours, 

LIXTOX  STEPHENS. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  16,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yesterday,  I  got  your  letter  of  the  day 
before,  and  the  day  before,  I  got  the  one  written  just  on 
your  return  home.  Both  bore  date  of  the  I4th,  but  the 
first  was,  of  course,  written  on  the  I3th.  I  will  meet  Mr. 
Douglas  at  Chattanooga  if  nothing  unforeseen  shall  prevent. 
1  trust  that  your  apprehensions  as  to  the;  treatment  he  may 
receive  in  Georgia  may  prove  groundless.  Mr.  Toombs' 
remark  about  what  will  be  done  in  Columbus,  in  case  he  re- 
peats his  Norfolk  sentiments,  looks  ominous.  I  am  sorry 
that  the  time  for  him  to  be  in  Columbus  is  not  longer  be- 
fore the  election  ;  for  any  ill-usage  he  may  receive  will  only 
do  him  good  in  the  election  if  the  news  could  have  time  for 
circulation  among  the  people.  We  are  on  the  verge  of  a 
precipice.  May  God  preserve  us! 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  235 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

JACKSON,  TENN.,  SUNDAY,  October  21,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — You  may  be  surprised  to  learn  that  I 
am  in  Tennessee,  but  you  have  possibly  heard  already  that 
I  had  gone  to  Illinois.  I  got  Judge  Wright  and  Bob  Sims 
both  to  fill  my  place  in  Murray,  and  started  from  Atlanta 
to  Ccntralia  last  Friday  morning.  It  had  rained  nearly  all 
the  night  before,  and  continued  to  rain  until  we  got  to 
Chattanooga.  Within  a  half  mile  of  the  depot,  at  Chatta- 
nooga, our  engine  ran  off  the  track.  We  would  have  lost 
the  connection  but  for  the  Memphis  train  waiting  for  us. 
They  had,  however,  already  waited  so  long  that  they  could 
not  wait  for  us  to  get  supper;  and  as  I  was  quite  hungry, 
and  didn't  relish  the  prospect  of  riding  all  night  without 
eating,  and  as  I  furthermore  didn't  like  to  pass  through  the 
region  of  land-slides  and  impending  rocks  in  such  a  wet  and 
dark  time,  I  staid  all  night  in  Chattanooga.  Yesterday 
morning,  I  started  again  and  got  to  the  "Grand  Junction" 
last  night  about  10  o'clock.  There  I  had  to  stay  all  night 
for  a  train.  This  morning,  the  train  came  and  I  took  it  at 
8  o'clock,  and  arrived  here  about  11.  This  place  is  forty- 
eight  miles  from  the  Grand  Junction.  It  is  now  about  3^ 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  am  to  leave  here  at  9:45  to- 
night, and,  with  good  luck,  shall  reach  Centralia  at  g]/2  in 
the  morning,  in  time  for  the  grand  gathering  there  to-mor- 
row. You  will  readily  conjecture  that  my  present  deten- 
tion at  this  place  is  owing  to  its  being  Sunday.  You  will 
readily  imagine  that  it  has  been  a  wear}-,  heavy  day  to  me. 
I  am  an  utter  stranger  here,  in  face  and  in  name.  The 
landlord  at  the  Junction  evidently  knew  me  from  reputa- 
tion, but  this  one  does  not.  I  am  all  alone  here;  but  I  am 
wearing  through  the  day  better  than  you  would  imagine. 

I  think  Douglas  is  strong  in  this  part  of  Tennessee,  but 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  Bell  will  carry  the  State.  Doug- 
las is  to  speak  at  this  place  on  Tuesday. 

And  now  for  the  reason  of  this  unexpected  trip  on  my 
part:  When  I  got  to  Atlanta,  Dr.  Hambleton  showed  me 
a  dispatch,  which  he  had  just  got  from  Mr.  Douglas,  in- 
quiring illicit  yon  would  meet  him  in  Illinois,  and  Hamblcton 
told  me  that  it  was  published  in  the  papers  that  you  were 
going  to  Illinois.  Hambleton  was  afraid  that  the  "when'' 


236  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

in  Douglas'  dispatch  implied  that  he  expected  you  with  cer- 
tainty at  sometime,  and  he  might  wait  for  you,  and  so  give  up 
his  Georgia  appointments.  The  truth  is,  he  seemed  very 
uneasy,  lest  Douglas  might  not  go  to  Georgia  at  all,  unless 
you  or  I  should  meet  him,  as  Hambleton  had  promised  him 
one  of  us  would  do.  He  did  not  acknowledge  to  me  in 
terms  that  he  had  made  such  a  promise,  but  I  became  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  he  made  some  such  promise.  The  only 
doubt  I  have  is  as  to  what  the  exact  promise  was.  /  tJdnk 
it  was  thatjw/  would  meet  Mr.  Douglas;  but  it  is  possible 
that  it  was  in  the  alternative — you  or  I.  At  all  events,  he 
begged  me  to  come  and  I  came.  When  I  got  to  Atlanta, 
I  found  that  Ben  Hill  had  spoken  to  a  very  large  crowd 
there  the  night  before,  and  had  got  resolutions  passed  fora 
fusion  of  all  parties  in  Georgia,  so  as  to  run  a  ticket  which 
should  be  pledged  to  neither  of  the  candidates,  but  pledged 
only  to  vote  for  that  one  who  would  have  the  best  chance 
to  beat  Lincoln  when  the  vote  should  be  cast.  The  Doug- 
las men  and  Bell  men  were  all  for  it,  and  a  number  of  the 
Breckinridgc  men  also.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  if  it  is 
well  managed,  it  may  be  a  strong,  wise  and  successful  move 
merit.  I  am  afraid  that  it  may  be  distasteful  to  Douglas 
men  in  some  parts  of  the  State,  because  it  is  inaugurated 
by  Bell  men  ;  but  I  hope  not.  I  find  that  there  is  great 
apprehension  in  the  public  mind  from  the  prospect  of  Lin- 
coln's election.  The  almost  universal  expectation  seems  to 
be  that  Carolina  will  secede;  that  the  General  Government 
will  try  to  force  her  back,  and  that  the  whole  South  will 
make  common  cause  with  her.  I  say  this  seems  to  be  the 
expectation,  and  it  also  seems  to  be  the  sentiment,  of  Un- 
people— Douglas  men,  Bell  men  and  all.  I  really  look  upon 
that  as  the  probable  result.  I  do  not  know  whether  I  shall 
speak  to-morrow  or  not.  I  certain!}'  shall  not  do  so  unless 
I  am  satisfied  that  Mr.  Douglas  really  desires  it.  I  feel, 
however,  that,  if  circumstances  should  be  favorable,  I  could 
give  the  Illinois  men  a  talk  which  may  do  them  good.  My 
sheet  is  out.  I  have  no  envelope.  Good-bye.  You  will 
not  hear  from  me  again  until  you  see  me  in  Atlanta.  May 
God  preserve  us  all ! 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  237 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  November  28,  1860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  often  thought 

it  was  a  pity  you  did  not — or  rather,  that  you  and  I  did 
not — at  once  close  in  with  Mr.  Toombs'  proposition  to  join 
us  in  an  address,  recommending  that  neither  any  immediate 
secession  man  nor  any  non-resistance  man  be  sent  to  the 
convention.  That  would  have  been  a  strong  card  for  effect 
upon  the  hot-headed  States.  Is  it  too  late  yet?  .... 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  SUNDAY,  December  2,  1 860. 

DEAR  BROTHER — One  reason  why  my  letters  to  you,  since 
you  left  here,  have  been  so  few  and  tardy  is  this :  I  sleep  so 
late  in  the  morning  that  the  mail-hour  passes  by  before  I 
get  my  breakfast  and  finish  my  smoking  thereafter.  ' '  Well, " 
you  may  say,  "admit  all  this  to  be  so,  and  yet,  why  don't 
you  get  up  sooner,  (which  would  be  the  best,)  or  write  on 
the  preceding  day  for  the  mail  of  the  next  day?"  My  an- 
swer shall  be  an  honest  one,  whether  it  is  satisfactory  or 
not.  It  shall  at  least  have  that  virtue  which  Mr.  Thomas 
proudly  claimed  for  his  report  of  his  premium  wheat,  when 
he  reported  that  he  made  exactly  two  and  a  half  bushels  to 
the  acre,  and  concluded  with  the  declaration  that  it  was  as 
honest  a  report  as  ever  was  made.  First,  then,  as  to  the 
alternative  of  writing  on  the  preceding  day  for  the  next 
day's  mail,  (as  I  am  now  doing) :  I  have  not  adopted  that 
plan,  because  it  is  not  the  best,  and  have  each  day  concluded 
that,  on  the  next  day,  I  would  adopt  the  best  by  getting  up 
soon  enough  to  write  before  the  closing  of  the  mail ;  and 
the  reason  why  I  have  each  morning  failed  to  carry  out  the 
good  resolution  of  the  preceding  day  has  been  that,  from 
playing  whist  sometimes,  and  at  others  from  a  mere  dread 
of  going  to  bed,  I  have  sat  up  too  late  to  be  in  a  condition 
to  rise  early.  This  is  just  the  truth  of  the  matter;  but  this 
is  not  the  whole  truth,  nor  even  the  main  part  of  it ;  for, 
after  all,  the  great  reason  of  my  failure  to  write  has  been  a 
general  indisposition  to  write,  or  to  do  anything  else.  I 
have  been  sunk  into  an  inglorious  gloom  and  idleness,  which 
found  no  other  relief  so  congenial  as  a  game  of  cards—whist 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

with  the  children,  or  even  the  poor  game  of  solitaire.  I 
have  not  written  one  line  of  my  judicial  opinions.  I  shall 
not  begin  until  next  week,  and  then  I  ze'zY/ begin,  if  nothing 
unforeseen  shall  prevent,  and  continue  without  remission  until 
the  work  is  ended.  I  mean  to  do  it  rapidly,  yet  hope  to  do 
it  well ;  and  the  ground  for  expecting  to  do  it  well,  and  yet 
rapidly,  is  that  I  intend  to  make  it  brief.  It  is  easier  for 
me  to  condense  than  it  was  when  I  first  wrote  opinions. 
Some  of  my  first  opinions  would  be  better  if  they  were 
shorter;  and  yet,  I  do  not  think  that  prolixity  is  a  leading 
fault  in  them.  Comparatively,  at  least,  brevity  is  their  pre- 
vailing excellence;  but  that  brevity  cost  me  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  and  time.  Some  of  my  shortest  opinions  could  have 
been  quicker  written  if  they  had  been  longer ;:!:  but  now,  I 
can  make  short  opinions  with  more  ease,  and,  indeed,  with 

greater    ease I  have  just  received 

your  letter  of  yesterday.  I  still  do  not  agree  with  you  as 
to  the  result  in  this  State.  But  ought  not  the  State  to  be 
canvassed?  I  feel  so,  and  think  so.  I  think  it  would  have 
been  a  good  lick  if  you  had  promptly  accepted  and  acted 
on  Mr.  Toombs'  suggestion  to  join  him  in  an  address  to 
the  people.  It  does  seem  to  me  it  would  have  been  a  great 
blow  for  the  right  direction  of  sentiment  in  Georgia  and  the 
whole  South.  Is  it  too  late  now  ?  Think  of  it.  Let  me 
say  to  you  that  I  think  you  arc  too  much  disposed  to  des- 
pair. The  feeling  is  the  surest  means  of  fulfilling  its  omen. 
Your  despair  will  be  a  cause  of  defeat — not  an  indication  of 
the  coming  inevitable  defeat.  I  don't  believe  the  dema- 
gogues yet  have  full  possession  of  the  people.  On  the 
contrary,  never  was  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  you  so 
strong  and  so  pronounced  as  it  is  now.  Don't  disappoint 
them.  You  can  save  the  country.  I  do  firmly  believe  ii. 
I  see  that  Fit/.patrick  is  opposed  to  separate  State  action  by 

Alabama I   see  that   Air.  Yanccy 

is  reported  to  have  expressed  himself  at  Columbus  in  favor 
of  a  conference  among  the  Southern  States.  Write  to 
Kxving  and  all  that  class,  (substantially,  though,  of  course, 
not  literal!}')  that  he  is  a  fool,  (as  he  is)  and  that  the  only 


JUDOjE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  239 

possible  mode  of  accomplishing  his  darling  object — the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union — is  by  giving  the  more  fiery  Southern 
States  such  a  programme  as  they  will  accept,  and  that  it 
is  the  height  of  folly  for  Virginia,  Tennessee  and' Kentucky 
to  drive  the  others  to  their  own  chosen  course  from  very 
despair  of  getting  any  co-operation  which  they  can  accept. 
If  the  more  conservative  States  will  step  one  pace  forward, 
I  do  not  doubt  but  the  more  extreme  States  will  fall  one 
step  backward.  These  extreme  States  want  co-operation — 
there  is  no  mistake  about  it.  They  feel  the  need  of  it,  and 
they  are  willing  to  do  something  to  get  it.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  secession  is  the  only  remedy  they  will  accept,  but  I 
also  believe  that  they  can  be  induced  to  accept  it  as  an  ulti- 
matum, instead  of  a  remedy  to  be  applied  at  once,  as  they 
desire  to  apply  it.  I  have  more  distrust  of  bringing  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  up  to  the  proper  mark  than  of  draw- 
ing the  others  back  to  the  proper  mark.  It  occurs  to  me, 
with  great  force,  that  there  is  the  point  to  strike  the  blow. 
You  arc  the  man,  and  the  only  man,  who  can  do  it  success- 
fully. The  very  fact  that  you  have  averted  one  immediate 
pressing  danger  causes  the  Union-loving  States  to  regard 
you  as  their  champion,  and  will  make  them  believe  what  you 
may  tell  them.  You  may  think  that  personal  jealousies 
will  interfere  and  prevent.  These  would  arise  at  a  later 
period  beyond  all  doubt;  but  now  their  cry  is,  "  Help  me, 
Cassius,  or  I  sink!  "  They  will  not  reject  your  help.  .  . 
I  think  that  Providence  has  a  great  work  for  you  to  do ; 
don't  be  discouraged  by  the  demagogues.  "  HE  makes  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him."  There  have  been  dema- 
gogues, and  bad  men,  and  selfish  men,  conspicuous  in  every 
great  struggle  for  liberty  and  the  right,  and  many  such  have 
been  canonized  in  English  history  as  heroes  and  patriots. 
They  never  would  have  brought  good  to  their  country,  as 
they  did  do,  if  God  had  not  made  the  "wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him."  Some  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements  on 
record  have  been  wrought  by  the  wicked  in  the  hands  of 
an  overruling  Providence. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  29,  1864. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Yesterday  I  saw 

the  Herald' s  account  of  the  proceedings  which   were  the 


24O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

foundation  for  Toombs'  telegram.  I  have  no  remark  to  add 
to  what  I  said  on  the  subject  yesterday,  before  seeing  the 
Heralds  account I  am 

more  impressed  than  ever  with  the  truth  of  what  I  said  in 
my  letter  to  you  yesterday,  that  the  clamor  for  new  consti- 
tutional guarantees  is  an  artifice  of  men  who  are  resolved 
to  defeat  all  settlement,  and  is  used  only  by  them,  and  those 
who  are  influenced  by  an  over-anxiety  to  conciliate  them. 
Have  you  seen  Mr.  Yancey's  letter,  in  which  he  says  we 
don't  need  new  constitutional  guarantees — that  the  Constitu- 
tion, as  it  is,  is  good  enough,  and  that  all  we  need  is  an  obe- 
dience to  it  on  the  part  of  the  North?  I  saw  such  a  letter 
from  him  yesterday  in  the  Columbus  Times.  That  is  the 
truth  of  the  case,  well  stated.  He  makes  one  use  of  it, 
and  we  another.  Hut  his  statement  of  the  case  can  be  and 
ought  to  be  effectually  used  to  silence  the  artful  and  de- 
ceptive clamor  which  his  co-laborers  arc  making  for  new 
constitutional  guarantees 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  31,  1860. 

DEAR   BROTHER— The   secessionists 

here  have  now  got  out  Kdge  Bird  in  place  of  Mr.  Ilarley, 
who  resigned.  To-morrow,  Lewis  is  to  speak  here  by  way 
of  getting  up  a  sensation  in  favor  of  his  ticket.  I  shall  re- 
ply to  him.  South  Carolina  is  his  capital.  He  can't  make 
anything  out  of  the  position  I  shall  take  on  the  subject. 
His  object  is  to  question  Harris,  Turner,  and  myself,  before 
the  people  on  that  subject  particularly.  He  wants  to  know 
what  course  we  think  Georgia  ought  to  take  in  the  event 
the  Federal  Government  should  attempt  to  coerce  South 
Carolina  back  into  the  Union.  I  shall  tell  him  that  South 
Carolina  having  taken  her  own  course  for  herself,  without 
any  consultation  with  us,  we  are  under  no  obligation  to  Jici 
to  defend  her  against  the  consequences  of  it;  that  the  sole 
consideration  of  Georgia  should  be  her  own  safety  and 
honor;  that  when  such  an  attempt  may  be  made,  the  gov- 
ernment will  be  at  an  end;  for  it  is  impossible  that  our 
system  can  be  worked  by  force  against  so  large  a  portion 
of  the  people  as  is  represented  by  a  whole  State  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  application  of  force  to  suck  a  case  would 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  24! 

end  the  whole  system,  and  Georgia  should  then  look  for 
new  safe-guards,  and  ought  to  look  where  she  may  be  most 
likely  to  find  them,  under  the  circumstances  as  they  may 
exist;  while  she  would  be  under  no  obligations  to  South 
Carolina,  she  yet  should  treat  her  as  she  would  treat  all  tin- 
rest  of  the  sound  States,  North  and  South,  and  her  course 
towards  them  all  should  be  to  propose  to  them  to  exclude 
the  unsound  ones,  and  then  go  right  on  under  the  old  Con- 
stitution and  the  old  flag,  and  with  the  Union  purged  and 
purified.  If  South  Carolina  would  accede  to  that  proposi- 
tion, then  we  ought  to  make  her  cause  our  own  ;  but  if  she 
should  refuse,  then  we  ought  to  leave  her  to  work  out  her 
own  destiny,  while  we  should  go  on  with  such  of  the  other 
States  as  would  accede  to  our  plan.  In  other  words,  we 
ought  to  make  Carolina's  cause  our  own,  if  she  would  join 
us  in  what  we  might  consider  the  right  course;  otherwise, 
leave  her  alone.  Let  me  know  what  you  think  of  this.  In 
great  haste. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

Judge  Stephens  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the  State 
Convention  of  1861,  which  passed  the  Ordinance  of  Seces- 
sion. It  was  done  on  the  igth  of  January  of  that  year. 
He  earnestly  opposed  the  movement  in  favor  of  immediate 
secession  for  then  existing  causes;  but,  after  the  ordinance 
was  passed,  he  drew  up  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tion, which  were  presented  by  Judge  Nisbet,  and  passed 
the  convention  by  an  overwhelming  majority: 

"  WHEREAS,  The  lack  of  unanimity  in  the  action  of  this 
convention,  in  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession, 
indicates  a  difference  of  opinion  amongst  the  members  of 
the  convention — not  so  much  as  to  the  rights  which  Geor- 
gia claims,  or  the  wrongs  of  which  she  complains,  as  to  the 
remedy  and  its  application  before  a  resort  to  other  means 
of  redress ; 

"  AND  WHEREAS,  It  is  desirable  to  give  expression  to 
that  intention,  which  really  exists  among  all  the  members 
of  this  convention,  to  sustain  the  State  in  the  course  of  ac- 
24* 


242  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

tion  which  she  has  pronounced  to  be  proper  for  the  occa- 
sion :  therefore — 

"Resolved,  That  all  members  of  tin's  convention,  includ- 
ing- those  who  voted  against  the  said  ordinance,  as  well  as 
those  who  voted  for  it,  will  sign  the  same  as  a  pledge  of  the 
unanimous  determination  of  this  convention  to  sustain  and 
defend  the  State,  in  this  her  chosen  remedy,  with  all  its  re- 
sponsibilities and  consequences,  without  regard  to  individual 
approval  or  disapproval  of  its  adoption." 

The  war  came. 

Judge  Stephens  enlisted  in  the  military  service  of  the 
Confederate  States  in  June,  1861. 

On  the  organization  of  the  Fifteenth  Regiment  of  Georgia 
Volunteers,  he  was  elected  lieutenant-colonel.  His  friend, 
the  late  Thomas  \V.  Thomas,  then  judge  of  the  Superior 
Courts  of  the  Northern  Circuit — recogni/ing,  as  he  said,  the 
force  of  the  maxim,  "  Inter  anna,  leges  silent" — doffed  the 
ermine  to  take  command  of  the  regiment;  it  was  composed 
of  companies  raised  exclusively  in  that  judicial  circuit,  and 
the  muster-roll  was  illustrated  with  the  flower — "the  rose 
and  expectancy" — of  that  section.  Alas!  how  many  of 
them  heard  their  last  reveille  on  the  consecrated  soil  of 
Virginia! 

Ill-health  enforced  the  resignations  of  both  Thomas  and 
Stephens  in  the  course  of  a  few  months:  the  former  came 
home,  as  it  proved,  to  die. 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  I,.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORIWILLK,  June  29,  1861. 

DKAK  BROTIIFR— I  was  truly 

sorry  to  perceive  from  your  two  last  letters,  and  particularly 
the  one  1  got  to-night,  that  you  were  suffering  such  a  de- 
pression of  spirits.  I  know  what  low  spirits  are — what  in- 
tense and  profound  melancholy  is — and  have  sympathized 
with  those  who  feel  them.  Last  week,  I  had  a  sad  time  my- 
self in  looking  over  and  reading  old  letters  that  I  was  lay- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2^3 

ing  away  and  arranging;  some  of  them  brought  tears  to  my 
eyes,  and  yet  I  can  imagine  that  that  almost  sacred  pile 
you  opened  must  have  induced  much  more  intense  feeling 
in  your  heart.  These  emotions,  though  painful,  may  do 
good;  their  tendency  by  nature  is  to  chasten  and  improve 
the  heart  when  their  legitimate  results  follow.  I  always 
endeavor  to  make  them  produce  such  a  result  with  me. 
The  mysteries  of  life  and  existence  with  its  multitudes  of 
ills  and  sorrows  often  perplex  and  overwhelm  me!  What 
you  say  of  your  belief  in  causation  is  not  far  different  from 
my  own  convictions  :  the  creed  with  me,  when  run  out,  leads 
to  this  settled  rule  of  action — patiently  to  bear  all  that  befalls 
me  after  doing  my  own  duty  in  all  things  as  far  as  I  can, 
believing  and  feeling  assured  that  it  is  all  right  and  all  for 
the  best,  myself  included  as  an  atom  of  the  great  universal  ex- 
istence. This  is  my  feeling  when,  upon  reflection,  I 
feel  satisfied  that  I  have  done  my  duty  as  far  as  I 
knew;  and  if  I  discover,  as  is  often  the  case,  that  by 
omission  or  commission  some  error  has  been  perpetrated, 
then  I  feel  like  crying  out,  "God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sin- 
ner!" This  is  my  only  stay,  prop  and  hope!  The  great 
mysteries  that  involve  all  things  around  us,  and  particularly 
the  frailties  as  well  as  sufferings  of  this  life,  of  good  and 
evil,  I  cannot  understand  and  shrink  from  inquiring  into. 
Then  life's  active  scenes  and  duties  call  my  attention  ;  and 
in  these,  I  have  long  since  found,  consist  all  the  happiness 
it  is  possible  for  me  to  attain.  I  have  felt  intensely  for  you 
in  your  position,  in  relation  to  entering  the  military  service. 
I  felt  too  much  to  talk  to  you  freely  about  it,  for  fear  that 
I  might  influence  you  improperly.  Your  situation  was  so 
peculiar  every  way,  I  could  not  myself  judge  for  you — and 
now  only  rely  upon  the  principle  of  my  creed,  that  all  is 
and  will  be  right,  let  results  be  as  they  may,  without  mur- 
muring or  upbraiding  that  all-controlling  Divinity  that  guides 
our  fortunes.  I  trust  I  shall,  with  patience,  fortitude  and 
resignation,  bear  whatever  may  come,  howsoever  painful — 
hoping  all  the  time  that  the  result  may  be  fortunate,  propi- 
tious and  agreeable.  Of  one  thing  I  feel  confident :  where 
duty  leads,  we  may  never  fear  to  tread. 

I  used  to  be  melancholy.  I  am  not  so  now.  Perhaps  it 
is  because  I  am  in  better  health:  the  health  of  the  body 
has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  state  of  the  mind.  You  are 


244  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

now  suffering  from  dyspepsia;  the  coldness  in  the  side  is 
caused  by  that.  I  doubt  not  you  will  recover  from  it. 

I  have  thought  of  nights  on  my  bed 

how  could  I  sleep  if  I  knew  you  were  on  the  cold  ground  in 
camp,  with  nothing  but  a  blanket  under  you  and  a  tent 
cloth  to  shut  out  the  rain  !  This  is  exceeding!}'  painful  to 
me,  and  yet,  I  do  trust  in  the  providence  of  God,  that  if 
you  go,  and  I  now  expect  you  will,  it  may  all  prove  to  IT: 
beneficial,  instead  of  injurious,  to  you.  It  has  been  so  with 
others.  Mr.  Crittendcn  once  told  me  that,  in  the  war  of 
iHi2,  he  slept  often  without  any  tent — -on  the  ground  in 
the  rain — and  slept  soundly  and  healthily  with  tin-  rain-wa 
ter  running  under  him  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  I  should  die-  if 
I  knew  that  you  were  in  such  condition  !  May  God  protect 

you  wherever  you  go,  or  whatever  you  do  : 

Affectionately,  ALKXAXDKR  II.  STKPHKXS. 

To  his  friend,  Colonel  A.  J.  Lane,  he  writes: 

CAMP,  XKAK  FAIRFAX  C.  II.,  September,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  JACK — Our  regiment  has  suf- 
fered greatly  from  sickness,  and  our  Hancock  companies, 
while  faring  better  than  any  others,  have  not  escaped. 

Three  of  them  have  died As  to  the 

future  movements  of  our  army,  nobody  knows  anything, 
except  the  generals  in  command.  The  brigadiers  seem  to 
be  as  much  in  the  dark  as  any  of  the  rest  of  us.  I  have  a 
conjecture  as  to  the  object  of  moving  our  forces  up  to  their 
present  position  at  Fairfax;  and  for  the  want  of  anything 
better,  I  will  give  it  to  you  for  what  it  is  worth. 

The  idea  was  probably  to  make  gradual  incroachments 
(as  we  have  been  doing)  upon  the  lines  of  the  enemy  on 
this  side  of  the  river,  and  by  at  least  getting  possession  of 
a  number  of  points  from  which  we  could  annoy  them  within 
their  entrenchments,  compel  them  to  come  out  of  their 
works  and  give  us  battle  in  order  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
annoyance.  This  was  probably  the  leading  idea,  with  the 
superadded  general  intention  to  take  advantage  of  any  op- 
portunity which  might  offer  of  pursuing  a  different  pro- 
gramme  What 

I  fear  most  is  this  naval  expedition  which  has  lately  started 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  245 

out  for  some  place  unknown — the  denouement  of  which  may 
be  known  when  you  are  reading  these  lines.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  I  apprehend  from  it  anything  more  than  a  har- 
rassment  of  and  plundering  our  coast;  but  I  don'-t  know 
what  they  will  attempt,  and  it  is  useless  to  indulge  in  con- 
jectures on  the  subject,  except  so  far  as  to  be  prepared  to 
meet  them  according  to  our  ability 

At  the  reorganization  of  the  regiment,  in  1862,  Judge 
Stephens  was  importuned  to  accept  the  colonelcy;  but  con- 
tinued ill-health,  as  well  as  regard  for  Major  Mdntosh,*  who 
desired  the  office,  constrained  him  to  decline. 

Judge  Stephens  opposed  with  his  might  the  doctrine  of 
conscription.  .He  believed  it  to  be  hostile  to  the  genius  of 
our  American  institutions — false  in  theory  and  pernicious 
in  practice;  and,  indeed,  it  would  seem  that  the  idea  of 
forcing  men  to  fight  for  their  own  liberty — and  that,  too,  by 
means  of  a  measure  unauthorized  in  the  fundamental  com- 
pact of  government — involves  not  merely  a  paradox,  but  an 
absurdity.  The  following  letter  sets  forth  some  of  the  rea- 
sons of  his  opposition  to  it: 

[  From  L.  S.  to  J.  A.  Stewart,  Esq.] 

SPARTA,  December  28,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  have  always  intended  to  send  you  my 
acknowledgments  and  thanks  for  your  valued  letter  of  the 
2Qth  of  November,  but  have  been  prevented  from  doing  so 
by  the  pressure  of  other  matters,  and  by  necessary  absence 
from  home. 

I  have  never  passed  through  any  political  struggle  with- 
out bringing  out  of  it  a  personal  regard  for  those  of  my  as- 
sociates in  it  whom  I  had  found  to  be  actuated  by  love  01 
country  and  genuine  devotion  to  the  principles  of  liberty 
and  good  government.  The  Douglas  campaign  left  me  just 
such  an  impression  as  to  yourself;  and  hence,  it  is  a  source 


246  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKKTCH    OK 

of  personal  gratification  to  me  to  find  my  subsequent  polit- 
ical course  receiving  your  approval.  Our  people  clo  not  appre- 
ciate the  mischiefs  of  conscription.  That  it  is  a  violation  of 
the  Constitution  is  demonstrable  in  a  few  words.  Nobody 
has  answered,  nor  attempted  to  answer,  the  real  argument, 
and  nobody  ever  will.  The  conscriptionist,  from  the  Pres- 
ident down,  including  our  Supreme  Court  and  Hen  Hill,  all 
dodge  the  argument,  because  they  can't  answer  it.  No  man 
can  assign  to  the  framcrs  of  the  Constitution  a  rational  pur- 
pose in  the  very  remark-able  guards  which  are  thrown 
'around  the  power  "to  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia," 
unless  that  "militia"  means  the  anus-bearing  people  of  the 
States,  and  not  a  mere  organization  which  may  itself  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  removal  of  the  men  who  compose  it.  Xo 
man  can  save  these  framers  from  being  regarded  as  mere 
babbling  geese,  except  by  construing  these  guards  as  cov- 
ering the  men,  and  not  a  mere  worthless  organization— the 
kernel,  and  not  the  mere  hull — the  substance,  and  not  the 
mere  shadow.  Xo  man  has  ever  suggested  a  possible  rea- 
son for  throwing  these  guards  around  the  organization,  and 
yet,  leaving  the  men  "who  may  compose  it  without  any 
guards  at  all  against  the  power  of  Congress.  Unless,  then, 
the  framers  of  our  Constitution  were  a  set  of  geese,  they 
meant  to  confine  the  power  of  Congress  ' '  to  provide  for 
calling  forth  the  arms-bearing  or  fighting  men  of  the  States  " 
to  some  one  of  the  three  purposes,  of  executing  the  laws, 
suppressing  insurrection,  or  repelling  invasion,  and  to  re- 
serve to  the  States  the  sole  and  exelusire  appointment  of 
officers  for  their  men  so  "  called  forth. "  Now,  my  com- 
plaint against  the  Conscript  .Act  is,  not  that  it  has  "called 
forth"  our  fighting  men  for  an  unconstitutional  purpose — 
for  the  purpose  is  the  constitutional  one  of  repelling  inva- 
sion—but that  it  has  called  them  forth  in  a  manner  which 
has  robbed  the  States  of  the  appointment  of  the  officers, 
and  has  robbed  the  soldiers  of  their  right,  under  State  laws, 
to  elect  their  own  officers.  There  can  be  no  escape  from 
this  reasoning.  'Hut  the  unconstitutionally  of  conscription, 
palpable  as  it  is,  sinks  into  minor  importance  when  com- 
pared with  its  monstrous  impolicy.  The  effect  and  design 
of  it  are  to  deciti/eni/.e  the  whole  arm}- — to  reduce  them 
from  the  dignity  of  citizenship,  and  degrade  them  into  mere 
machines  of  unquestioning  obedience — instruments  for  the 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  247 

unquestioning  execution  of  the  designs  and  commands  of 
their  masters.  These  brave  fellows  may  achieve  independ- 
ence indeed,  but  if  the  war  lasts  long  under  the  degrading 
influences  of  conscription,  they  will  come  out  of  it  utterly 
unfit  for  liberty.  I  do  not  intend  to  enlarge  on  this  view ; 
but  it  is  a  very  alarming  one  when  we  consider  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  our  armies,  and  the  consequent  magnitude  of  the 
degrading  influence.  The  whole  tendency  of  conscription 
is  to  make  armies  which  are  fit  for  despots,  and  to  unmake 
citizens  who  are  fit  to  exercise  and  preserve  liberty.  I  know 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  in  the  army  itself  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  appointing  officers ;  but  those  who  object  to 
elections  take  not  only  a  wrong  view,  in  my  judgment,  of 
the  best  mode  to  procure  good  officers,  but  they  take  a  wo- 
fully  narroic  view.  The  great  question  is,  not  the  best 
mode  of  procuring  good  officers  for  a  war,  but  the  best 
mode  of  preserving  men  who  shall  be  fit  for  peace.  For 
myself,  I  have  no  sort  of  doubt  that  election  is  at  once  the 
best  mode  of  securing  the  best  officers  and  keeping  them 
good — the  best  mode  of  preserving  the  gallantry  and  effect- 
iveness of  the  men,  and  the  only  mode  of  preserving  in  them 
the  spirit  of  freemen  and  a  fitness  for  their  subsequent  duties 
as  citizens.  This  is  a  subject  of  the  very  highest  import- 
ance ;  and  I  repeat  that  our  people  have  not  risen  to  its  due 
appreciation.  Large  and  long  wars  are  always  destructive 
in  their  tendency  to  the  spirit  of  liberty;  and  we  shall  need 
all  possible  care  and  precautions  to  come  out  of  this  one 
with  enough  of  that  spirit  left  to  save  us  from  being  drifted 
into  irrevocable  despotism.  Our  people  would  not  believe 
this  if  it  were  told  to  them,  but  it  is  true,  nevertheless.  It 
is  founded  on  the  teachings  of  history,  and,  what  is  more, 
on  the  nature  of  man.  It  seems  to  be  a  fatality  of  men  and 
nations  that  they  cannot  see  their  own  future,  nor  believe  it 
when  it  is  truly  foretold  to  them.  Mankind,  in  all  ages  and 
in  all  countries,  have  ever  been  just  as  those  were  who 
laughed  at  Noah  preaching  the  flood,  and  as  Ha/.ael  was 
when  he  said,  "  Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this 
great  thing?"  and  yet,  he  turned  around  and  did  the  very 
thing.  Our  people  did  not  believe  there  would  be  any  war, 
but  war  came.  They  did  not  believe,  if  any  war  occurred, 
it  could  be  a  big  or  a  long  war;  but  it  has  already  lasted 
nearly  two  years  on  a  scale  of  appalling  magnitude.  They 


248  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKI-ITCH    OF 

would  not  believe  me  if  I  were  to  tell  them  no\v  that  they 
have  not  yet  reaped  its  bitterest  fruits  in  the  devastation, 
and  blood,  and  tears  which  it  has  brought  to  us ;  and  yet, 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare,  that  by  far  the  most  of  all  its 
horrors  is  the  dragoii 's  teeth  which  it  is  sowing  as  seed  for  a 
future  but  earl}'  crop. 

But  I  must  close.  I  have  written  you  a  very  different 
letter  from  what  I  intended.  I  began  with  an  intention  to 
say  that  my  judgment  is  decidedly  against  what  is  called 
"Reconstruction,"  and  to  give  you  my,  reasons  for  that 
opinion-.  I  may  yet  do  so  on  some  leisure  day.  With  good 
wishes  for  you  personally,  and  for  our  unhappy  country,  1 
remain  Yours,  truly, 

LIXTOX  STEPHENS. 

f  From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  14,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Dr.  Burkman 

came  home  with  me  day  before  yesterday  evening  from 
Dawson's,  where  I  found  him,  and  staid  until  bed-time. 
lie  and  I  played  piquet  a  little — I  beat  him.  lie  told  me 
that  you  beat  him  also.  lie  said  he  was  professor  of  the 
game  and  was  getting  beaten  by  all  of  his  pupils.  Me  com 
plained  that  he  couldn't  get  good  cards.  He  had  a  good 
deal  of  talk  about  you,  and,  among  other  things,  said  it  was 
difficult  to  teach  you  a  game,  because  you  insisted  on  being 
taught  your  own  way — or  rather,  you  undertook  to  learn 
without  teaching.  Cosby  and  Kvans  soon  came  up  after 
the  doctor  got  here,  by  invitation,  which  I  gave  them  as 
the  doctor  and  I  were  passing  through  town,  and  piquet 
was  then  dropped  for  whist,  he  remarking  that  he  supposed 
he  was  about  to  play  with  professors  of  the  game.  Kvans 
and  Cosby  both  very  modestly,  and,  in  my  opinion,  very 
insincerely,  disclaimed  such  pretensions  .As  for  myself,  1 
said  nothing,  but  simply  smiled  at  the  modest  lies  which 
Cosby  and  Kvans  were  telling.  l>y  the  way,  I  have  found 
out  that  there  arc  a  great  many  circumstances  in  which 
a  fellow  may  avoid  telling  lies  by  simply  remaining  silent; 
this  is  quite  a  discover}',  as  much  as  you  may  be  disposed 
to  laugh  at  it;  or,  at  all  events,  it  is  an  act  but  little  under- 
stood. There  is  a  class  of  matter-of-fact  things  which, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  249 

when  said,  are  generally  expected  to  elicit  a  corresponding 
matter-of-course  answer,  which  answer,  if  given  as  expected, 
is,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out 'of  a  hundred,  a  lie.  This  con- 
ventionalism gives  rise  to  a  pretty  extensive  class  of  lies 
which  the  world  has  agreed  to  consider  necessary  and  inno- 
cent. Now,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  world  is  mistaken  as  to 
the  necessity,  whether  it  is  as  to  the  innocence  or  not;  for 
while  a  certain  set-answer  is  expected  on  such  occasions, 
yet,  it  is  almost  always  considered  as  given,  whether  it  is 
given  in  point  of  fact  or  not.  There  are  very  few  persons 
who  ever  notice  the  answers  which  are  actually  given  on 
such  occasions.  For  instance  :  I  have  no  idea  that  Dr.  Burk- 
man  discriminated  between  the  response  of  Cosby  and  Evans 
on  the  one  part,  and  my  silence  on  the  other;  and  I  doubt 
not  that,  if  he  had  occasion  to  report  us,  he  would  repre- 
sent us  all  as  having  entered  the  usual  disclaimer  to  his 
compliments.  None  but  a  keen  observer  will  ever  notice 
that  the  expected  answer  is  not  given  ;  and  n'ith  a  keen  ob- 
server you  never  get  any  credit  for  the  lie  when  it  is  told. 
So  my  conclusion  is  that  such  lies,  so  far  from  being  neces- 
sary, are  never  so,  with  proper  management.  I  think  you 
will  scarcely  read  this  without  some  disturbance  of  the 
muscles  of  your  face ;  but  you  may  be  assured,  neverthe- 
less, that  my  object  is  to  enforce  a  truth  no  less  than  to 
excite  a  smile.  You  don't  know  hoi<.'  I  secretly  plumed  my- 
self on  my  superiority  over  Evans  and  Cosby  in  avoiding 
that  monstrous  lie  which  they  were  entrapped  into  telling. 
The  old  doctor  does  not  play  a  good  game  of  whist.  Piquet 
he  plays  well,  so  far  as  I  had  an  opportunity  to  judge.  He- 
knows  how  to  play  to  make  the  most  tricks  with  a  given 
hand ;  but  how  far  his  skill  goes  in  forming  his  hand  by- 
judicious  discards,  I  could  not  tell  by  the  little  pla}r  I  had 
\vith  him.  By  the  way,  how  do  you  spell  piquet  /  I  notice 
that  Sir  Walter  Scott  spelt  it,  as  I  have  just  done,  without 
a  c  before  the  q;  but,  until  I  saw  his  orthography,  I  never 
hesitated  to  put  in  the  c.  I  have  just  read  "St.  Ronan's 
Well,"  in  which  frequent  mention  is  made  Q{  piquet.  That 
was  the  game  by  which  the  false  Earl  of  Etherington  ruined 
poor  Mowbray.  The  character  which  struck  me  most  in 
St.  Ronan's  is  Peregrine  Touchmond,  alias  Scrogie-Scrogie, 
who  was  disinherited  by  his  father  because  he  refused  to 
follow  his  father's  whim  of  merging  Scrogie  in  the  more 
25* 


25O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

euphonious  and  aristocratic  name  of  Mowbray-Scrogie,  who 
wandered  and  grew  rich  ;  who  lectured  against  innovations, 
and  yet,  turned  every  place  he  went  to  up-side  clown  with 
improvements,  and  who  was  generally  full  of  whims  and 
full  of  sense.  As  I  am  fresh  from  the  book,  I  will  give  you 
some  of  the  points  which  you  were  trying  to  recall  when 
you  talked  to  me  about  the  book  not  long  ago.  The  name 
of  the  singular  old  hostess  was  Margaret  Dods,  and  the 
name  of  the  vehicle  in  which  she  made  her  remarkable  visit 
to  the  town  of  Marchthorn  was  a  whisky.  I  have  a  criticism 
to  make  on  this  book,  and  I  wish  to  know  what  you  think 
of  it — I  mean  of  the  criticism.  I  think  the  tragical  term- 
ination of  it  is  a  great  blemish.  The  result,  or  denouement, 
is  against  the  logic  of  the  antecedents.  The  hero,  Francis 
Tyrrel,  is  portrayed  as  a  gentleman,  and  a  man  of  sense, 
and  yet,  he  is  made  to  play  the  fool  in  the  most  important 
matters;  but  I  insist  that  it  is  out  of  character  for  a  sensi- 
ble gentleman — a  man  of  sense  and  of  good  instincts  and 
breeding — to  play  the  fool  on  a  point  of  sentiment.  He 
made  himself  wretched,  and  brought  the  woman  whom  he 
loved,  and  who  loved  him,  to  the  most  tragical  end  by  re- 
fusing to  marry  her,  because  she,  by  mistake  of  the  man, 
had  passed  through  a  marriage  ceremony  with  his  treach- 
erous brother.  She  discovered  the  mistake  immediately, 
and  repudiated  the  marriage  indignantly.  All  this  was 
known  to  Tyrrel ;  and,  beside*;,  he  had  a  clear  idea  that  the 
marriage  had  no  legal  validity.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  a 
true  gentleman  would  have  felt  and  perceived  that  it  had  just 
as  little  validity  in  a  court  of  morals,  or  a  court  of  propri- 
ety, or  taste,  if  you  please,  as  it  had  in  a  court  of  law.  To 
allow  his  own  happiness,  and  that  of  the  woman  he  loved, 
to  be  wrecked  on  so  miserable  a  punctilio  was  conduct  to  be 
expected  from  the  crazy  brain  of  Don  Quixote,  but  not  from 
the  thoughtful,  high-bred,  sound-minded  and  well-regulated 
Mr.  Tyrrel.  The  truth  is,  that  Scott  himself  was  not  a  gen- 
tleman, and  he  didn't  know  how  to  paint  the  character. 
His  only  good  touches  in  that  line  were  what  I  leal}-  told  us 
all  his  painting  was — pure  copies  from  actual  existences. 
Healy  told  us  he  couldn't  paint  without  a  model  before  his 
eyes.  So  it  is  with  Scott,  I  think,  in  drawing  all  his  char- 
acters, but  especially  in  all  his  portraitures  which  have  any 
success  in  exhibiting  the  gentleman.  If  I  were  not  so  near 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  2$  I 

the  end  of  my  sheet,  I  would  give  you  more  about  Scott ; 
and  I  may  do  so  hereafter  in  relation  to  some  points  in  his 
life,  and  the  order  in  which  his  different  works  were  written. 

I  will  only  add  now  that  your  puppy  is  here,  and  that  I 
have  named  him  Bingo,  from  Sir  Bingo  Binks,  in  "St.  Ro- 
nan's  Well."  Bingo  is  a  good-sounding  name,  in  itself,  for 
a  clog,  and  then,  Sir  Bingo  was  a  most  suitable  fellow  for 
having  dogs  named  for  him.  My  observation  of  dogs  teaches 
me  that  they  make  the  best  dogs  when  named  for  the  mean- 
est people.  All  the  "Troups"  whom  I  have  known  in  the 
canine  race  would  suck  eggs  and  kill  sheep,  while  the 
"Clarkes"  have  generally  been  good  dogs.  My  observa- 
tion of  dogs  inclines  me  to  think  there  is  something  in  old 
Sir  Walter  Shandy's  philosophy  of  nomenclature. 

By  the  way,  I  have  a  negro  whose  name  of  Bing  has 
troubled  my  speculations  a  good  deal.  I  am  now  satisfied 
that  lying  is  only  an  abbreviation  of  Bingo,  and  that  my 
negro  owes  his  name  to  the  worthy  who  figures  in  St.  Ro- 
nan's.  I  have  not  published  the  puppy's  name,  and,  of 
course,  it  remains  subject  to  your  ratification.  He  is  a  fine, 
smart  fellow. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.] 

SPARTA,  January  14,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  just  finished  a  pretty  long  letter 
to  you,  which  will  be  received  by  you  at  the  same  time  with 
this;  and  if  you  should  chance  to  take  up  this  first,  why, 
lay  it  aside  and  take  up  the  other.  This  is  a  sequel  to  that, 
and  should  come  after  it  in  the  reading.  About  the  close 
of  the  other,  I  made  three  or  four  remarks  which  I  will  now 
pursue.  One  was  that  Scott  was  not  a  gentleman,  and, 
therefore,  didn't  know  how  to  paint  the  character  of  a  gen- 
tleman. By  this,  I  don't  mean  to  concur  in  Thomas'  idea 
that  he  was  a  scoundrel.  I  think  he  was  a  canny  Scotchman, 
with  keen  observation,  a  teeming  memory,  a  fertile  fancy, 
a  stock  of  good,  healthy  common-sense,  and  had  an  easy 
flow  of  words — possessions  which,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  his  contemporaries,  made  him  a  most  entertaining 
companion,  and  which  make  him  also  a  very  entertaining 
author.  These  are  his  excellences:  his  faults  are,  a  dash  of 
pedantry,  which  is  considerably  subdued  by  his  general 


2$2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

good  sense;  a  carelessness  and  hurry  which  indicate  that 
he  wrote  for  wages,  and  a  loiv  breeding,  which  frequently  be- 
trays itself  in  spite  of  that  same  general  good  sense.  He 
was  himself  conscious  of  his  low  breeding,  if  1  am  not  mis- 
taken, and  endeavored  to  hide  it  under  a  show  of  ease  in 
portraying  the  characters  of  the  great  and  the  genteel.  The 
cloven  foot  often  peeps  out,  however,  through  all  his  affect- 
ation of  ease — or  rather,  the  ease  is  always  affected,  and, 
therefore,  discloses  the  cloven-foot.  The  universal  fault  or 
pretenders  is  excess  in  the  part  they  are  performing  ;  and 
excess  is  the  precise  fault  of  Scott  in  delineating  a  gentle- 
man. He  makes  Tyrrel  ruin  himself  and  his  beloved  by  a 
foolish,  fastidious  punctilio.  A  true  gentleman  would  have 
been  above  such  littleness.  There  are  passages  in  Scott's 
life  which  directly  prove  what  is  so  clearly  inculcated  by  his 
works.  .  He  was  a  sycophant,  as  is  shown  by  his  letters — 
particularly  by  one  letter  to  some  duke — the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleurch,  I  believe  it  was.  He  evident!}'  was  quite  proud  of 
his  servile  intimacy  in  the  duke's  family.  I  can't  now  give 
you  the  particulars  of  that  letter,  but  I  know  that  it  im- 
pressed me  as  containing  language  which,  after  making  all 
allowances  for  the  state  of  society  in  which  he  lived,  could 
not  be  used  by  any  independent,  high-spirited  man.  An- 
other remark  was  about  the  order  in  which  Scott's  different 
works  were  written.  I  do  not  propose  to  give  you  that 
order,  but  I  propose  only  to  tell  you  how  you  can  get  it. 
Lockhart,  his  son-in-law,  gives  it  in  his  biography,  and,  in 
editing  his  works,  arranged  them  in  a  scries,  according  to 
the  times  when  they  were  written.  I  have  Lockhart's  life 
and  edition  of  the  works.  When  you  come  over  next  time, 
you  can  satisfy  your  curiosity  on  this  point.  Why  don't 
you  come?  Another  remark  was  to  the  effect  that  old  Sir 
Walter  Shandy's  philosophy  of  nomenclature  had  something 
in  it — at  least,  when  applied  to  dogs.  The  truth  is,  there 
is  a  good  deal  in  it,  whether  it  be  applied  to  dogs  or  men. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  cases  where  names  have  a  de- 
cided influence  upon  the  character  of  the  men  or  dogs  who 
happen  to  bear  them.  In  a  case  which  once  came  before 
me,  from  Coweta  county,  while  I  was  judge,  one  of  the 
parties  bore  the  name  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  Potts.  Now, 
sir,  I  am  ready  to  maintain,  against  all  comers  and  goers, 
that  a  man  with  that  name  can  never  rise  in  the  world.  A 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  253 

union  of  the  grandiloquent  and  the  mean  is  a  never-failing 
source  of  ridicule ;  and  a  fellow,  whose  appellation  is  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte,  topped  off  with  Potts,  is  destined  to  be 
somewhat  of  a  butt  in  his  passage  through  this  world.  He 
feels  the  ridicule  of  his  name,  and  cowers  and  sinks  under 
it,  or  he  takes  the  only  other  alternative,  and  glories  in  it. 
Either  turn  is  fatal  to  true  elevation  and  dignity  of  charac- 
ter. I  admit  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte  Potts'  is  a  very  ex- 
traordinary case,  but  it  illustrates  a  principle,  nevertheless. 
In  the  case  of  human  beings,  this  influence  which  a  name 
may  have  upon  the  bearer  of  it  is  of  two  kinds :  one  direct 
from  the  name  itself,  and  the  other  reactionary  from  the 
world — one  flowing  from  the  inherent  tendency  of  the  name 
as  perceived  and  appreciated  by  the  bearer  of  it  himself, 
and  the  other  reflected  from  the  world's  appreciation  of  it. 
There  is  a  curious  tendency  in  men  (and  dogs,  too)  to  con- 
form to  the  estimate  which  the  world  has  of  them;  in  other 
words,  a  tendency  to  become  what  they  are  considered  to 
be.  To  give  a  clog  a  bad  name  (in  this  sense,  name  means 
character)  is  not  only  to  hang  him,  but  also  to  render  him, 
to  some  extent,  at  least,  deserving  to  be  hanged.  The  tend- 
ency is  to  conform  to  the  imputed  character.  Now,  in  the 
case  of  dogs,  the  only  influence  from  the  name  is  of  the  re- 
actionary kind ;  for  I  do  not  suppose  that  a  poor  dog  can 
have  any  appreciation  of  any  quality  or  tendency  in  a  name. 
The  world,  however,  does  have  such  an  appreciation,  and 
the  dog  feels  the  effects  of  it  by  reflection  from  them — he 
feels  it  in  caresses  or  in  kicks.  He  knows  not  what  pro- 
cures him  the  one  or  the  other;  but  who  doubts  that  every 
caress  and  every  kick  has  an  influence  upon  character,  and 
who  doubts  that  a  caress  or  a  kick  has  often  been  adminis- 
tered on  no  better  foundation  than  a  name?  Names,  then, 
have  an  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  men  and  dogs;  but 
it  would  be  illogical  to  conclude  from  this  that  great  names 
have  a  good  influence  and  mean  names  a  mean  influence. 
I  said  there  was  something  in  old  Sir  Walter's  philosophy; 
but  I  did  not  say  there  was  correctness  in  it.  It  always  takes 
at  least  two  generations  of  philosophers  to  develop  one 
truth  in  its  fullness;  and  what  Shandy  began  remains  to  be 
completed  by  me !  He  found  out  that  names  had  an  influ- 
ence ;  but  his  error  consisted  in  supposing  that  the  influence 
was  happy  or  otherwise,  as  the  name  was  good  or  bad  in 


254  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

itself.  On  the  contrary,  the  true  rule  is  the  inverse  ratio, 
instead  of  the  direct,  and  Tristram  was  lucky,  instead  of  un- 
fortunate, as  his  father  supposed,  in  losing  the  great  name 
of  Trismegistus.  The  philosophy  of  the  true  rule  is  very 
obvious.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  influence  of  a 
name  lies  in  the  tendency  of  men  and  dogs  to  become  what 
they  are  thought  to  be;  and  then,  let  it  further  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  world  does  not  form  its  opinions  of  men  or 
dogs  according  to  the  direct  import  of  the  names  tlvey  bear. 
A  great  name,  when  coupled  with  a  man  or  dog  who  is  not 
great,  dwarfs  him  into  absolute  meanness  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  and,  by  contrast  between  the  expectation  and  the 
performance,  becomes  a  source  of  ridicule  and  disgust. 
Great  names  excite  great  expectations,  which  are  soon  con- 
verted into  woful  disappointments ;  and  then  comes  the  dam- 
aging contrast  between  the  expectation  and  the  perform- 
ance; then  come  ridicule  and  contempt  in  the  case  of  men, 
and  kicks  in  the  case  of  dogs.  Within  the  sphere  of  my 
experience,  the  name  of  Troup  was  an  honored  one,  while 
Clarke  was  supposed  to  embody  all  that  was  opposed  to 
Troup.  The  consequence  was  that  the  Troup  dogs  all  fell 
far  below  what  was  expected  of  them — got  into  disgrace 
and  soon  became  as  mean  as  they  were  thought  to  be — 
were  kicked  into  sucking  eggs  within  the  first  six  months, 
and  into  killing  sheep  the  first  year ;  while  the  Clarkes  re- 
versed all  this  by  rising  above  the  expectations  formed  ot 
them.  I  do  not  doubt  that  all  this  is  reversed  in  families 
where  Clarke  was  the  favorite  name.  So  that  the  true  phi- 
losophy of  naming  men  and  dogs  is  to  give  them  names 
which  arejr/to  be  made  illustrious.  It  is  all  the  better, 
of  course,  if  the  name  is  odious,  and,  therefore,  I  named 
your  puppy  IJlngo 

[From  L.  S.  to  his  niece,  Mary  drier.] 

MILLKDGKVILLE,  March  28,  1863. 

DF.AR  MOLLIK — Yesterday   being 

fast-day,  we  had  no  meeting  of  either  House  of  the  Legis- 
lature; but  we  had  instead  two  sermons — one  in  the  fore- 
noon from  Hishop  Pierce,  and  another  in  the  afternoon  from 
Dr.  Palmer,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  great  reputation, 
who  is  now  a  refugee  from  New  Orleans.  Both  sermons 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  255 

were  delivered  to  large  audiences,  and  both  were  well  re- 
ceived. Both  orators  came  up  to  public  expectation,  and 
expectation  ran  high  in  both  cases.  Copies  of  both  ser- 
mons will  be  asked  for  publication.  If  they  are  published, 
I  will  send  you  a  copy  of  each,  and  leave  you  to  settle  for 
yourself  the  question,  which  has  been  often  asked  here  and 
variously  answered — which  is  the  best?  I  shall  want  to 
know  of  you,  not  only  which  you  think  is  the  best,  but  also 
what  parts  of  each  you  may  think  unsound  or  illogical — if, 
indeed,  you  shall  find  any  errors  in  either. ' 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  April  4,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — On    my  arrival 

here,  I  found  your  long  letter  of  Sunday.  It  has  interested 
me  more  than  you  expected,  if  I  may  measure  your  ex- 
pectation by  the  apparent  hesitation  with  which  it  was 
written  and  the  apology.  I  assure  you  no  apology  was 
needed.  I  have  often  sought  to  draw  you  out  on  religious 
subjects,  but  have  never  fully  succeeded.  I  have  always  felt 
and  known  that  you  held  something  in  reserve,  and  I  have 
often  suspected  that  the  thing  reserved  was  skepticism,  in- 
stead of  that  never-failing  and  all-sustaining  faith  which  you 
have  now  so  simply  and  so  nobly  expressed.*  I  have  been 
wondering  who  was  the  man  that  suspected  you  of  infidel- 
ity or  atheism,  and  I  have  rather  concluded  that  he  was 
Preston,  of  Virginia.  Am  I  wrong?  This  letter  of  yours 
has  a  remarkable  coincidence  with  some  other  things.  It 
was  written  the  same  day  on  which  I  heard  that  noble  ser- 
mon f  of  which  I  have  written  you,  and  which,  in  its  tone, 
was  so  like  your  letter — not  more  difference  than  strictly 
different  breezes  would  make  in  blowing  over  the  same 
golden  harp,  or  than  the  same  breeze  would  make  in  blow- 
ing over  different  harps.  On  that  same  day,  Dick  Johnston 
wrote  me  a  long  religious  letter — such  a  one  as  he  never 
wrote  me  before,  and  such  as  was  called  forth  by  nothing 
but  a  casual  statement  which  I  had  made  to  him  in  a  part- 


*  It  is  a  source  of  regret  that  I   have  not  been  able  to   find   the  letter 
alluded  to. — ED. 

t  Dr.  Palmer's  sermon  at  Milledgeville. 


256  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

ing  note,  as  I  was  leaving  home,  about  feeling  sad  and  mel- 
ancholy. Like  your  letter,  his  dealt  in  his  personal  expe- 
rience, and  was  very  cheering.  It  really  looks  as  if  the 
Holy  and  loving  Spirit,  of  whom  Dr.  Palmer  discoursed  so 
beautifully,  was,  at  that  very  moment,  breathing  upon  many 
and  distant  harps,  and  bringing  forth  from  them  all  harmo- 
nious melodies  which  lifted  the  soul  from  earth  to  heaven. 
This  does  not  strike  my  mind  as  an  unreasonable  supposi- 
tion, and  it  is  a  very  pleasant  and  consoling  one.  No  sub- 
ject occupies  more  of  my  thoughts,  or  troubles  me  more,  or 
interests  me  more,  than  what  the  world  calls  religion — calls 
it  properly,  too,  and  beautifully,  too,  if  you  will  only  strip 
it  of  the  cant  which  has  become  polarized  about  it,  and 
will  view  it  simply  as  the  chord  which  binds  fallen  man  back- 
again  to  the  holy  Author  of  his  being.  I  shall  take  special 
care  of  your  letter,  and  treasure  it  as  a  precious  memorial 
of  you,  if  it  shall  be  my  fortune  to  tarry  behind  you  on  this 
earthly  stage. 

I  will  meet  you  here  at  Hancock  court.  Don't  fail  to 
come,  for  I  want  to  see  you  before  you  return  to  Richmond. 
I  will  now  bid  you  good-bye. 

Most  affectionately,  LINTOX  STKHIKN.S. 

The  largest  liberty  of  the  citizen,  compatible  with  protec- 
tion to  property  and  preservation  of  order,  was  the  control- 
ling principle  of  Judge  Stephens'  political  creed  ;  it  was  the 
gravitating  law,  so  to  speak,  of  his  political  philosophy. 
Government,  he  believed,  had  accomplished  its  purpose,  its 
full,  legitimate  object,  when  the  laws,  justly  enforced  and 
administered,  protected  property  and  preserved  good  order; 
and  that  when  government  had  compassed  those  things,  its 
whole  mission  was  done.  Hence,  he  set  his  face  like  a  flint 
against  the  proposition,  made  in  the  Confederate  States  Con- 
gress, to  suspend  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
He  looked  upon  the  slightest  movement  in  that  direction 
with  alarm  and  horror.  The  first  lesson  he  had  learned  in 
the  science  of  American  popular  government  was  that  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  chief  corner-stone  of  personal 
liberty — hewn  out  of  the  mountain  by  our  sturdy  Eng- 
lish ancestry  at  Runnymede. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS. 
[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  April  6,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — As  William  Hidell  returns  to  Crawford- 
ville  to-morrow,  I  write  another  letter,  in  addition  to  the 
one  of  yesterday  evening,  with  the  view  of  getting  him  to 
carry  them  both.  Some  things  which  he  tells  me  are  news 
to  me,  and  are  of  ominous  significance.  I  refer  particularly 
to  the  "political  prisoners "  at  Salisbury,  and  the  President's 
application  to  Congress  for  authority  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  whenever  and  wherever  he  may  please.  I  be- 
lieve that  if  this  authority  is  granted  to  him,  free  govern- 
ment will  be  irretrievably  gone.  What  can  he  want  with 
it?  It  is  a  delusion  to  let  our  preconception  of  his  charac- 
ter weigh  down  the  tremendous  significance  of  his  present 
action's.  He  has  inaugurated,  and  persistently  and  consist- 
ently pursued,  a  system  of  policy  which  seems  to  me  to  look 
to  absolutism.  He  and  the  Lincoln  government  seem  to 
me  to  be  running  a  rapid  race  against  each  other  in  usurp- 
ation and  madness.  Each  faithfully  follows  every  pattern 
that  is  set  by  the  other,  upon  the  apparent  conviction  that 
what  is  borne  in  the  one  will  be  borne  in  the  other,  and 
each  has  shown  a  remarkable  alacrity  in  furnishing  its  due 
proportion  of  examples  to  the  common  stock.  We  gave 
them  "conscription,"  and  now  we  have  taken  from  them 
in  exchange  "political  prisoners"  and  discretionary  suspen- 
sion of  Jiabcas  corpus — riot  such  a  suspension  as  comports 
with  the  constitutional  restrictions  upon  it,  but  such  as  are 
intended  to  get  rid  of  these  very  restrictions.  It  is  not  the 
least  exaggeration  to  say  that  all  the  usurpations  and  tyr- 
annies of  each  are  promptly  and  faithfully  copied  by  the 
other;  and  what  must  be  the  possible  result  but  the  crush- 
ing out  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  the  establishment  of 
absolutism  in  both  countries?  Their  emissaries  and  bribed 
journals  are  engaged  in  the  partially  secret  but  certain  and 
persistent  work  of  decrying  free  government  as  a  failure, 
and  thus  preparing  the  sickened  and  weary  hearts  of  the 
people  for  the  coup  a"  etat.  If  Congress  yields  to  this  last 
demand,  I  believe  we  shall  be  lost  forever.  I  would  intro- 
duce warning  and  rallying  resolutions  into  the  Legislature 
if  I  did  not  feel  well  assured  that  they  would  be  overwhelm- 
ingly lost,  and  that  their  loss  would  encourage  the  enemies 
26* 


258  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

of  liberty,  and  rivet  the  chains  which  they  are  preparing  for 
our  submissive  and  pusillanimous  limbs.  Our  submission 
to  conscription  was  a  woful  mistake.  It  ought  to  have  been 
resisted  promptly,  and  utterly  resisted.  Will  mankind  never 
be  able  to  appropriate  the  teachings  of  history  without  a 
personal  experience?  Must  they  wait  to  be  enslaved  before 
they  will  learn  that  every  usurpation  which  is  accomplished 
becomes  a  new  fortress  from  which  tyranny  assails  the  ram- 
parts of  liberty;  and  that  usurpation  is  never  appeased,  but 
always  whetted  and  strengthened  by  submission?  Are  our 
people  only  insensible  to  this  truth,  or  have  they,  indeed, 
become  sick  of  their  liberty,  and  resolved  to  take  refuge 
under  the  wings  of  an  absolute  ruler?  In  either  case,  de- 
cency demands  that  we  should  cease  to  denounce  the  usurp- 
ations and  tyrannies  of  Lincoln.  These  rapidly  accumulat- 
ing and  gigantic  usurpations,  with  a  connecting  tlircad  run- 
ning through  the  whole  of  them  and  binding  them  together 
as  links  in  a  chain,  fill  me  with  alarm,  and 'the  mean  and 
pusillanimous  submission  of  our  people  fills  me  with  de- 
spair. One  significant  link  in  that  chain  is  the  scheme  of 
State  indorsement  of  Confederate  debts ;  and  we  have  had 
a  foretaste  of  the  operation  of  it  in  the  insolent  assumption 
of  sending  a  special  agent  to  lecture  the  State  Legislature 
upon  its  duty  to  the  central  head.  I  wish  I  could  see  you 
before  I  go  back  to  Milledgeville,  but  I  cannot.  My  im- 
pression is  that  the  indorsement  scheme  will  be  isorked 
through,  and  that  the  conscription  resolutions  will  either  be 
cut  off  by  an  early  adjournment,  or  will  be  indefinitely  post- 
poned by  a  large  vote.  A  Legislature  which  can  be  be- 
guiled and  scared  into  an  acquiescence  in  conscription,  by 
the  plea  of  necessity  and  the  bug-bear  of  reorganizing  the 
army  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  when  the  only  reorganiza- 
tion dreamed  of  by  anybody  is  just  such  a  one  as  was  effected 
by  conscription  itself  in  the  face  of  the  enemy — a  change  in 
the  mode  of  appointing  future  officers — will  submit  to  any- 
thing! I  have  no  hope  from  them.  My  judgment  of  them 
is  that  they  are  against  a  fuss  under  all  circumstances,  and 
that  they  will,  therefore,  submit  implicitly  to  whoever  may 
be  in  possession  of  that  power  which  surrounds  them  at  the 
moment — to  Mr.  Davis  now,  and  to  Mr.  Lincoln  if  he 
should  ever  overrun  the  country.  They  would  not  hesitate 
to  repeat  the  ignominy  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  with 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS. 

the  same  surroundings.  The  personal  pusillanimity  of  some 
of  them  is  such  that  they  would  to-day  sign  and  seal  a  bar- 
gain for  the  security  of  their  victuals  and  clothes.  God 
grant  that  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  believe  we  are  lost! 
Congress  could  save  us — the  Georgia  Legislature  could  save 
us — but  neither  of  them  has  the  courage  or  sense  to  do  it ; 

and  I  repeat  that  I  believe  we  are  lost ! 

Most  affectionately,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  Judge  Stephens  raised  a  troop  of 
horse  for  State  defense,  and  repaired  to  Atlanta.  Rosecrans 
was  threatening  our  northern  border.  The  company  was 
merged  into  a  battalion,  organized  at  Atlanta — Judge  Ste- 
phens being  elected  to  the  command. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SAXDTOWN,  GA.,  5^  O'CLOCK  p.  M.,  Sept.  16,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER— General  Cobb  is 

as  agreeable  as  I  had  expected.  He  thinks  the  State  troops 
are  likely  to  be  out  a  good  while;  he  didn't  say  the  whole 
term  of  six  months,  but  I  think  we  are  regularly  in.  I  feel 
very  much  as  if  we  had  been  tricked — indeed,  I  shared  the 
general  suspicion,  from  the  beginning,  that  we  were  walk- 
ing into  a  trap.  I  walked  in  with  my  mind  made  up  to  be 
trapped ;  but  it  is  a  deplorable  state  of  things  when  the 
pledges  of  the  government  fail  to  inspire  credence  even  in 
its  blindest  supporters.  Nobody  relishes  the  consciousness 
of  being  fooled ;  but  I  remain  resolved  to  bear  whatever 
may  come.  I  have  not  lost  my  temper,  on  any  occasion, 
from  the  beginning  to  this  time.  I  am  very  much  annoyed 
by  many  things,  but  I  have  kept  cool.  The  men — espe- 
cially the  boys — run  to  me  with  their  slightest  accidents, 
even  to  the  broken  straps  and  strings  about  their  saddles. 
I  have,  in  every  case,  given  them  the  best  advice  which  oc- 
curred to  me,  and  treated  their  little  mishaps  with  sympa- 
thy and  kindness. 

We  are  all  getting  on  harmoniously  in  the  main — more 
so  than  I  ever  saw  any  company  before.  The  sick  man  has 
become  very  sick.  I  have  got  him  into  a  private  house, 
and  detailed  Dr.  Tom  Andrews,  his  neighbor  at  home,  to 


2<5O  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH    OF 

attend  him.  I  am  afraid  he  will  have  to  go  to  the  hospital ; 
for  the  lady,  whose  house  he  is  now  in,  said  she  could  keep 
him  only  last  night.  Besides  this  case,  there  are  two  others 
of  sickness — one  of  chills  and  the  other  rheumatism.  They 
remain  in  camp  as  yet.  We  had  a  very  sudden  change  of 
weather  night  before  last,  and  this  morning  we  had  quite  a 
frost.  Everybody  complains  of  the  cold,  and  of  having 
slept  very  cold  last  night.  I  got  very  cold,  and  thought 
once  I  should  have  a  chill,  but  I  escaped.  The  rations 
which  I  drew  yesterday,  as  far  as  meat  is  concerned,  con- 
sisted of  \oy>  pounds  of  bacon  and  297  pounds  of  miserable 
beef  for  47  men  one  ivcck.  The  beef  I  take  by  installments. 
General  Cobb  says  he  thinks  there  will  be  considerable 
"billing  and  cooing"  before  the  big  fight  begins,  and  that 
a  big  fight  will  then  come  off.  He  told  me  that  Bragg  was 
drawing  rations  for  seventy  thousand  men.  I  am  going  in 
town  to  take  dinner  with  Anderson,  and  must  wash  up  and 
change  my  clothes.  I  am  exceedingly  dirty,  as  are  all  the 
rest.  My  company  is  the  only  one  of  the  battalion  that  has 
arrived.  General  Cobb  tells  me,  as  I  expected,  that  we 
will  all  have  to  form  regiments,  or  be  thrown  into  regiments 
by  him.  He  still  allows  us  the  chance  to  form  them  our- 
selves and  elect  our  own  officers.  He  told  me  that  General 
Toombs  and  his  regiment  would  remain  at  Athens,  where 
they  now  are.  I  am  sorry  that  Mr.  Conrad's  visit  is  likely 
to  prevent  you  from  coming  here.  I  would  like  very  much 
to  see  you.  You  can  get  quarters  at  Mrs.  Whitehead's,  as 
I  told  you,  and  as  you  will  see  from  the  inclosed  note  from 
her.  She  handed  it  to  me  after  you  left  Sparta.  I  intended 
to  send  it  to  you  by  Evans,  but  forgot  it,  in  the  hurry  and 
stress  of  attention  to  other  matters,  in  getting  off.  1  must 
write  Cosby  a  letter;  and  so  good-bye.  I  am  writing  on 
my  knee,  with  my  back  against  a  hickory  sapling.  Write 
to  me  often;  it  does  me  good  to  get  letters  from  you,  even 
when  they  are  short. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LJNTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  September  23,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Speaking  of  ap- 
pointments,  my  old  class-mate,    Robert  J.    Henderson,  of 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHEN?.  26 1 

Covington,  desires  promotion  to  a  brigadiership.  He  has 
eighteen  months'  experience  as  a  colonel,  and  he  is  a  man 
of  character  and  education.  I  have  no  doubt  he  would 
make  a  better  brigadier  than  many  we  have.  He  and  his 
regiment  were  among  the  Vicksburg  captives.  I  told  him 
what  rule  you  had  adopted  in  relation  to  military  recom- 
mendations, but  that  I  would  lay  his  case  before  you,  with 
a  request  that  you  would  do  for  him  what  you  could  con- 
sistently with  your  views  of  right  and  propriety 

General  Cobb  is  very  agreeable  to  me ;  but  he  has  always 

been  so  towards  me  in  a  pretty  marked  degree 

Our  side  seems  to  have  had  the  decided  advantage  in  the 
kite  fight,  but  I  do  not  regard  the  result  as  yet  decided.  I 
can't  help  feeling  great  apprehension.* 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II .  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  October  3,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — It  has  been  several  days  since  I  have 
written  to  you,  and  several  since  I  have  received  any  letter 
from  you.  I  suppose  this  will  probably  find  you  at  home. 
I  am  still  ignorant  of  the  future  probable  movements  of  my 
battalion,  farther  than  a  slight  inference  that  we  will  not  be' 
moved  within  the  next  four  or  five  days.  Last  night,  I 
recommended  a  furlough  to  a  man  on  condition  that  the 
General  should  think  the  furlough  would  probably  'expire 
before  the  battalion  would  be  moved.  The  furlough  was 
granted ;  and,  as  it  was  for  five  days,  I  concluded  the  Gen- 
eral thought  that  we  would  not  be  moved  within  that  time. 
This  is  all  I  know  beyond  the  General's  intimation,  of  which 
I  have  before  informed  you,  to  the  effect  that  wre  might  be 
kept  here  to  catch  deserters.  You  see  I  have  made  a  rise 
in  the  way  of  writing  implements,  and  I  hope  the  change 
from  pencil  to  ink  will  be  as  pleasant  to  you  as  it  is  to  me. 
I  have  a  box  for  a  writing-desk,  and  am  altogether  better 
prepared  for  writing  than  I  have  been  before.  I  now  have 
five  companies  in  camp,  and  I  understand  that  the  captain 
and  first  lieutenant  of  the  Baldwin  company  are  in  the  city; 
the  company  is  probably  near  at  hand.  On  Monday,  I 


*The  battle  of  Chickamauga  had  been  fought  on  the  igth  and  aoth  of 
September. 


262  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

want  to  hold  an  election  for  an  additional  field-officer,  and 
complete  the  organization  of  the  battalion.  Whether  it  will 
be  run  up  to  a  regiment,  I  don't  know,  but  General  Cobb 
says  he  intends  so.  The  cavalry  material  here  present  is 
exhausted,  with  the  exception  of  a  squadron  of  four  com- 
panies, which  the  General  has  agreed  may  retain  its  sepa- 
rate organization  for  the  present:,  and  two  other  companies, 
one  of  which  has  boundaries  not  extending  across  the  Chat- 
tahoochee  River.  I  don't  know  how  he  will  manage  it,  but 
he  says  he  intends  to  run  my  battalion  up  to  a  full  regiment. 
Night  before  last  (the  first),  we  had  a  terrible  storm  of  wind 
and  rain.  Our  tents  blew  down  and  leaked  so  that  we  all 
got  very  wet;  some  have  taken  cold  from  the  exposure,  but 
1  have  not.  I  put  on  my  overcoat  and  saved  my  body  from 
the  wetting,  though  my  legs  got  well  soaked.  After  the 
storm  abated,  I  took  a  nap  of  an  hour's  length  in  my  wet 

clothes I  am  standing 

up  as  well  as  anybody  so  far The   Baldwin 

company  has  come  into  camp  since  I  have  been  writing. 
Two  lads  came  here  this  morning,  from  Sparta,  and  told  me 
that,  on  last  Wednesday  night,  my  smoke-house  on  the  lot 
was  broken  open  and  all  the  meat  taken  out  of  it,  and  that 
quite  a  number  of  negroes  had  been  taken  up  and  were  in 
jail  on  account  of  it I  feel  very  un- 
easy about  the  state  of  tilings  at  home,  and  in  the  country 
similarly  situated.  This  war  cannot  be  carried  on  success- 
fully upon  the  present  basis.  ]f  we  are  prepared  to  admit 
that  we  cannot  continue  the  struggle  without  stripping  the 
country  of  all  its  men,  we  might  as  well  abandon  the  con- 
test and  accept  our  fate.  There  is  a  plan  by  which  the  con- 
test can  be  successfully  conducted  without  the  present  rapid 
and  destructive  consumption  of  all  our  resources,  but  will 

it  ever  be  accepted?     But  enough  of  this 

I  sa\v  Genera]  Forrest  yesterday  evening.  1  le  was  just  from 
the  "front"  (to  use  a  phrase  which  has  become  a  cant),  and 
he  said  he  didn't  think  there  would  be  any  more  fighting  in 
several  days.  He  said  he  was  going  to  LaGrange  to  rest 
himself  a  week.  On  the  other  hand,  ammunition  drays 
were  running  nearly  all  last  night  from  the  arsenal  to  the 
railroad,  indicating  preparation  for  another  fight.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  two  armies  have  now  settled  down  for  a  spell, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  the  State  troops  will  be  retained  to 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  263 

guard  Bragg's  rear,  or  for  some  other  purpose.  Our  negro 
population  is  going  to  give  us  great  trouble.  They  are  be- 
coming extensively  corrupted.  The  necessary  pains  to  keep 
them  on  our  side,  and  in  order,  have  been  unwisely  and 
sadly  neglected.  The  terms  on  which  I  told  you  1  would 
be  willing  to  settle,  there  is  a  great  deal  in.  My  mind  lias 
only  been  confirmed  in  the  views  then  expressed.  I  believe 
that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  already  so  undermined  and 
demoralized  as  never  to  be  of  much  use  to  us,  even  if  we 
had  peace  and  independence  to-day.  The  institution  has 
received  a  terrible  shock,  which  is  tending  to  its  disintegra- 
tion and  ruin ! 

Most  affectionate!}',  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  October  17,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — To-day,  I  got  a  letter  from  Cosby,  say- 
ing that  you  had  promised,  and  expected  to  return  to  Sparta 
next  Monday  to  be  present  at  the  trials  of  the  negroes ;  and 
I  therefore  have  little  hopes  of  these  lines  reaching  you  be- 
fore you  get  off,  and  still  less  of  seeing  you  up  here.  I  have 
been  very  desirous  to  sec  you  ;  and,  as  I  cannot  go  to  see 
you,  I  thought  you  would  come  to  see  me;  but  I  have  now 
given  up  that  idea,  and  have  made  up  my  mind  to  get  rflong 
on  ni)T  own  hook.  This  is  Saturday  night,  not  quite  dark 
yet,  and  I  am  writing  by  a  candle  in  my  tent,  and  I  am 
immersed  in  a  hum  of  voices  discussing  such  matters  as  men 
in  camp  can  find  to  interest  them.  The  weather  is  now 
charming.  The  clouds  cleared  off  yesterday  evening,  and 
I  walked  out  to  the  edge  of  the  camp  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  getting  a  clear  view  of  the  new  moon.  My  first 
sight  of  it  was  very  clear.  I  dispensed  with  the  usual  drill 
this  evening,  and  had  all  hands  to  clean  up  the  camp,  each 
company  cleaning  off  its  own  ground,  and  all  ventilating 
and  cleaning  out  their  tents.  Ail  the  offices  of  the  battal- 
ion are  now  filled,  except  ordnance-sergeant  and  chaplain. 

The  ordnance-sergeant,    though    not 

ranking  high,  is  a  very  important  officer;  for  he  has  charge 
of  all  the  ammunition.  Mr.  Akcrman*  fills  this  place  for 

*Mr.  Akerman  was,  after  the  war,  Attorney-General  of  the  United. 
States. 


264  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

General  Toombs.      I  wish  I  had  such  a  man  to  fill  it  for  me. 

General   Cobb    is   now    gone  to  the 

"front,"  and,  in  his  absence  to-day,  I  got  a  note  from  his 
adjutant,  saying  that  General  Bragg  had  telegraphed  to 
General  Cobb  to  send  forty  or  fifty  men  to  Meridian,  Mis- 
sissippi, to  drive  beeves  from  there  to  his  army,  and  asking 
me  if  I  could  furnish  the  men  for  the  service.  I  answered 
him  very  promptly  that  I  would  not,  and  then  rode  up  to 
see  him,  and  gave  him  my  reasons  for  refusing  much  more 
in  full  than  I  had  done  in  the  written  answer  to  his  note. 
My  reasons  are  these:  In  the  first  place,  I  think  it  very 
doubtful  whether  there  are  any  beeves  at  Meridian  ;  in  the 
next  place,  if  there  are  any  there,  and  it  were  proper  to 
bring  them  away,  we  are  not  the  people  to  do  it.  Where 
are  the  Mississippi  State  troops,  I  wonder?  Cobb's  adju- 
tant informed  me,  in  response  to  my  question,  that  some  of 
them  are  at  Meridian  now.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  more 
patent  folly?  It  would  be  three  weeks,  with  the  best  of 
work,  before  my  men  could  get  there  to  start  the  cattle,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  hardship  of  asking  us  to  go  and  do  the 
work  which  lies  at  the  door  of  the  Mississippians.  In  the 
next  place,  if  I  approved  of  the  job,  and  as  the  selection  of 
us  as  the  men,  I  still  would  not  do  it,  because  we  are  not 
provided  with  the  means.  The  proposition  was  to  start 
forty  or  fifty  men  for  Meridian  on  horseback,  provided  with 
two  days'  rations  and  nothing  else.  It  is  about  a  forty  days' 
job,  and  the  men  would  have  to  support  themselves  and 
horses.  I  have  not  yet,  nor  has  any  captain,  got  .back  one 
cent  of  the  money  we  paid  out  in  getting  here,  and  in  the 
detached  service  in  which  my  Greene  count}'  company  was 

sent  after  they  got  here 

Our  battalion-quartermaster  is  a  first-rate  business  man. 
A  few  such  men  in  the  high  places  of  the  quartermaster's 
department  would  soon  produce  magical  changes  in  its  affairs. 
He  is  a  Wilkes  county  boy,  who  went  to  New  York  as  a 
clerk,  and  soon  worked  himself  up  to  a  partnership  in  a 
large  mercantile  house.  He  never  saw  West  Point  in  his 
life,  and  only  knows  business.  Seven-eighths  of  the  work 
of  an  army  is  business,  and  requires  business  talent.  The 
other  eighth  is  statesmanship,  and  requires  a  talent  pos- 
sessed by  very  few  men  in  the  country.  .  .  .  Good-bye. 
Affectionately,  LIXTON  STF.PHKNS. 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  265 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  October  29,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — In  great  haste,  I  drop  you  a  line  to  say 
that  we  have  received  orders  to  go  to  Savannah  to  meet  an 
attack  which  General  Beauregard  apprehends  at  that  point, 
and  to  suggest  that  you  do  not  come  up  here  as  you  ex- 
pected. I  give  you  the  earliest  notice  of  this  movement, 
hoping  it  may  be  in  time  to  stop  you.  We  go  by  home  in 
separate  companies,  with  orders  to  the  several  captains  to 
take  up  the  line  of  march,  from  their  respective  court- 
houses, for  Savannah,  fifteen  days  from  to-morrow  morning. 
I  like  the  movement  very  much.  I  shall  send  my  horses 
home  by  Gary,  and  go  myself  by  railroad.  I  expect  to  get 
to  your  house  Thursday  or  Friday,  day  or  night,  I  don't 
know  which.  When  I  see  you,  I  will  explain  all  to  you; 
at  present,  I  have  not  time. 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  November  1 8,  18.63. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  arrived  here  this  morning,  and  went 
into  the  session  of  the  House  without  shaving  or  changing 
the  clothes  which  I  wore  away  from  here  last  Thursday. 
With  the  dirt,  and  loss  of  sleep,  and  cold  last  night,  I  am 
feeling  to-day  very  much  like  a  "stewed  witch."  On  my 
arrival  here,  I  found  three  letters  from  you,  of  the  I3th,  I4th 
and  1 5th.  Of  course,  I  am  unable  to  tell  you,  as  you  de- 
sired to  know,  which  of  these  came  quickest.  This  is  the 
first  I  have  heard  from  you  since  I  left  here.  I  also  found 
a  long  letter  from  General  Cobb.  The  inference  which  I 
draw  from  it  is  that  he  wishes  to  be  senator.  He  says  his 
personal  wishes  are  balanced  by  conflicting  considerations; 
but  he  also  says  he  will  accept  if  elected.  Mr.  Toombs  is 
absent,  to  my  great  regret.  Shockly  thinks  there  is  a  ma- 
jority for  him  now,  with  an  improving  tendency  in  his  favor. 
I  hope  so.  I  think  Mr.  Toombs  is  mistaken  as  to  Cobb's 
true  position,  and,  therefore,  I  am  very  doubtful  of  the  esti- 
mates of  himself  and  friends.  I  feel  very  badly  to-day,  but 
27 


266  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

not  low-spirited I  left  everything-  quiet  in 

Savannah I  am  to  meet  a  committee  now, 

and  must  close.      Good-bye. 

Most  affectionately,  LINTOX  STEPHEN'S. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  November  20,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  adjournment  of  the  House  to-day, 
in  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  deceased  member,  gives  me, 
not  leisure — for  I  have  business  enough — but  a  respite  from 
pressing  duty;  and  I  avail  myself  of  it  to  tell  you  that  I 
have  not  heard  from  you  since  I  wrote  last,  and  to  tell  you 
how  gloomy  and  lonely  I  feel.  The  deceased  member  was 
Mr.  Herrington,  of  Terrell  county.  I  did  not  know  him 
even  by  sight.  He  had  just  gone  through  a  successful  con- 
test for  his  seat,  and  then  laid  down  and  died.  Old  man 
Oslin,  the  well-known  messenger  of  the  House,  is  now  about 
to  die — is  considered  hopeless.  Poor  old  man !  I  have 
known  him  long,  and  have  valued  him  for  some  sterling 
qualities.  His  industry,  particularly,  was  a  model.  His 
kindness  of  heart  and  general  accommodating  spirit  are  also 
very  conspicuous  traits  in  his  character 

We  had  a  fight  in  the  House  to-day  over  a  bill  to  stop 
interest  on  all  contracts  where  payment  in  Confederate 
money  might  be  refused.  I  opposed  it  on  the  constitutional 
ground  that  it  impaired  the  obligation  of  contracts.  There 
was  a  considerable  little  debate  between  Wallace  and  Klam 
and  myself.  Mathews,  of  Oglethorpe,  made  a  very  sensi- 
ble speech  on  my  side.  I  walloped  \\\cm  so  badly  that  they 
couldn't  get  enough  to  call  the  yeas  and  nays.  On  the 
policy  of  the  bill,  I  expressed  no  opinion  of  my  own,  but 
told  them  what  Washington's  contract  was  in  refusing  Con- 
tinental money  at  par  when  it  was  only  five  to  one.  — 
said  he  had  never  heard  of  that  before,  but  did  not  doubt 
its  truth  after  my  statement  of  it.  He  then  went  on  to  say 
that  it  was  a  disastrous  clay  when  Washington  took  that 
position ;  the  cry  went  out  all  over  the  country  that  the 
"  Father  of  his  Country  "  had  refused  to  take  war-currency, 
and  then  the  fate  of  that  currency  was  sealed  forever.  I 
asked  him  if  he  did  not  know  that  Washington  had  taken 
that  position,  how  could  he  know  what  sort  of  a  "cry"  was 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  267 

raised  about  it?     This  raised  quite  a  laugh  on ,  and 

was  a  sort  of  settling  stroke.  I  doubt  which  made  the  most 
votes — my  argument,  which,  I  think,  was  unanswerable, 
and  which  certainly  was  unanswered,  or  that  little  hit,  which 

had  nothing  to  do  with  the  merits.      I  also  caught in 

as  bad  a  trap — worse,  really,  for  he  did  not  escape  under 

the  cover  of  a  laugh  as did.      He  referred  to  the  law 

of  1845,  changing  interest  from  8  to  7  per  cent.,  as  an  au- 
thority to  show  that  interest  on  existing,  as  well  as  future, 
contracts  was  under  legislative  control.  He  represented 
that  law  as  operating  on  contracts  which  then  existed,  as 
well  as  on  future  ones.  At  first,  he  put  it  with  some  hesi- 
tation ;  but,  finding  that  I  did  not  correct  him,  he  grew 
very  confident,  and  spoke  of  having  made  settlements  on 
that  basis.  He  then  said  he  knew  he  was  right  in  his  rec- 
ollection of  that  law ;  and  yet,  he  had  never  heard  its  con- 
stitutionality called  into  question.  He  had  then  got  his  foot 
properly  into  it,  and  I  rose  and  read  to  him  the  first  lines 
of  the  law — "On  all  bonds,  notes,  contracts,  etc.,  made 
after  the  passage  of  this  act. "  I  laid  down  the  book  and 
took  my  seat  without  a  word  of  comment.  He  looked 
badly,  and  soon  subsided.  It  made  a  hole  in  him  and  let 
out  all  his  steam.  He  collapsed  and  sunk  like  a  bellows 
with  a  similar  disaster.  Then  these  gentlemen  pitched  into 
me,  and  not  I  into  them. 

But  I  must  bring  this  letter  to  a  close ;  for  I  have  some 
others  to  write,  and  then  a  long  and  somewhat  difficult  bill 
to  draw,  to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  indi- 
gent soldiers 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MILLEUGEVILLK,  December  4,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  ought  to  have  written  to  you  yester- 
day, but  I  did  not,  because  I  was  sick — quite  sick — and 
confined  to  my  room  (but  not  to  my  bed)  until  the  after- 
noon. I  should  have  staid  in  doors  during  the  afternoon 
also,  but  Mr.  Bacon  came  to  see  me,  and  said  the  cotton- 
bill  was  coming  to  a  vote,  and  begged  me  to  go  up  and  vote 


268  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

on  it.  I  went  and  made  a  speech — as  good  a  one,  me  ju- 
dicc,  as  ever  I  made — but  it  didn't  succeed.  It  had  too 
much  truth  to  be  digested  at  a  single  meal.  The  restric- 
tion-bill was  carried  by  one  majority.  There  will  be  an 
effort  to  reconsider  this  morning,  probably  successful.  The 
House,  yesterday,  concurred  in  a  Senate  resolution  to  ad- 
journ on  the  1 2th.  I  must  hurry  up  to  the  House,  and  have 
no  time  to  write  as  I  wish.  I  never  was  so  oppressed  with 
a  parting,  as  I  was  last  Tuesday,  in  taking  leave  of  you  and 
the  children  and  Cosby.  I  had  a  feeling  of  unutterable  woe, 
and  I  have  it  now.  It  seeks  no  utterance,  because  it  is 
conscious  of  being  able  to  find  none.  I  am  much  better 
this  morning.  I  have  just  got  your  letter,  written  as  you 
were  about  to  depart  from  my  house,  and  it  has  helped  me 
somewhat.  I  wish  I  could  bring  myself  to  the  point  of 
being  resigned  to  whatever  may  happen!  Sometimes,  I 
have  thought  I  had  reached  it,  but  poor  human  nature  has 
broken  down  on  the  way.  God  help  us  all!  And,  ()  God, 
have  mere}'  on  poor,  miserable  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  one ! 
Yours,  most  affectionate!}', 

LIXTOX  STEPHENS. 


[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  December  ii,  1863. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  just  read  your  two  letters  of  the 
9th  and  loth;  and,  though  I  am  not  able  to  write,  I  have 
determined  to  drop  you  a  few  lines,  because  these  letters, 
and  the  one  of  the  8th,  which  I  got  last  night,  have  filled 
me  and  oppressed  me  with  a  sense  of  my  injustice  and  neg- 
ligence of  our  correspondence.  I  got  the  Governor  to  write 
to  you  for  me  last  Tuesday.  I  see,  and  was  surprised  to 
see,  that  you  had  not  got  his  letter  when  you  wrote  yester- 
day. I  have  been  very  unwell  ever  since  I  left  home — or 
rather,  ever  since  I  got  here  the  last  time 

Your  account  of  "the  Parson"  is  a  most  wonderful  one  to 
me,  but  beautiful  in  the  extreme.  It  looks  as  if  all  the 
landmarks,  in  this  world,  of  my  whilom  acquaintance,  are 
all  passing  rapidly  away.  It  is  very  painful  and  depressing 
to  me;  but  the  manner  in  which  you  speak  of  them  shows 
that  you  feel  them  as  deeply,  if  not  as  violently,  as  I  do, 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  269 

and  the  calmness  and  quiet  resignation  which  you   display 
in  speaking  of  them  are  beautiful  to  me,  while  it  rebukes 

my  own  despair 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

The  reader  will  see,  from  the  last  three  preceding  letters, 
that  Judge  Stephens  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  autumn  of  1863.  The  most  import- 
ant measures  with  which  he  was  intimately  and  prominently 
identified  were :  An  act  of  the  Legislature,  granting  sup- 
plies of  food,  raiment,  etc.,  to  persons  left  destitute  by  the 
ravages  of  war,  in  sections  of  the  State  overrun  by  the  Fed- 
eral army  ;  that  measure  he  ardently  supported.  Another, 
which  he  opposed,  was  the  measure  to  indorse,  by  the  State, 
the  Confederate  debt.  He  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions 
declaring  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  Jiabcas  corpus  to  be 
unconstitutional.  His  speech  in  advocacy  of  the  resolutions 
was  regarded  by  those  who  heard  it,  and  who  had  heard 
him  on  other  occasions  in  deliberative  bodies,  as  the  ablest 
he  ever  made  in  a  parliamentary  assembly;  it  was  worthy 
of  the  subject,  the  occasion,  the  time,  and  the  man.  It  con- 
vinced the  reason  of  the  Legislature ;  for  the  resolutions 
were  adopted.  Here  follow  the  resolutions  entire — the  text 
of  the  masterly  plea  he  uttered  in  behalf  of  constitutional 
government  and  the  liberty  of  the  citizen  : 

RESOLUTIONS 

INTRODUCED  BY  HON.  LINTON  STEPHENS  ON  THE  SUSPENSION 
OF  THE  WRIT  or  HABEAS  CORPUS. 

Tlie  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Georgia  do  resolve,  i. 
That,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States, 
there  is  no  power  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  wrrit  of 
habeas  corpus,  but  in  a  manner  and  to  an  extent  regulated 
and  limited  by  the  express,  emphatic  and  unqualified  consti- 
tutional prohibitions,  that  "no  person  shall  be  deprived  of 


2JC  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,"  and 
that  "the  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches 
and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall 
issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirm- 
ation, and  particularly  describing  the  places  to  be  searched 
and  the  persons  or  things  to  be  seized."  And  this  conclu- 
sion results  from  the  two  following  reasons:  First.  Because 
the  power  to  suspend  the  writ  is  derived  not  from  express 
delegation,  but  only  from  implication,  which  must  always 
yield  to  express,  conflicting  and  restricting  words.  Second. 
Because  this  power,  being  found  nowhere  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, but  in  words,  which  are  copied  from  the  original  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  as  adopted  in  1787,  must 
yield,  in  all  points  of  conflict,  to  the  subsequent  amendments 
of  1789,  which  are  also  copied  into  our  present  Constitu- 
tion, and  which  contain  the  prohibitions  above  quoted,  and 
were  adopted  with  the  declared  purpose  of  adding  further 
declarator}'  and  restrictive  clauses. 

2.  That  "due  process  of  law"  for  seizing  the  persons  of 
the  people,  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  itself,  is  a  war- 
rant issued  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  af- 
firmation,  and   particularly   describing   the   persons   to   be 
seized  ;  and  the  issuing  of  such  warrants,  being  the  exertion 
of  a  judicial  power,  is,  if  done  by  any  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment except  the  judiciary,  a  plain  violation  of  that  provi- 
sion of  the  Constitution  which  vests  the  judicial  power  in 
the  courts  alone ;  and,  therefore,  all  seizures  of  the  persons 
of  the  people,  by  any  officer  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
without  warrant,   and  all  warrants  for  that  purpose,  from 
any  but  a  judicial  source,  are,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  unreasonable  and  unconstitutional. 

3.  That  the  recent  act  of  Congress,  to  suspend  the  priv- 
ilege of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  cases  of  arrests,  ordered 
by  the  President,  Secretary  of  War,  or  general  officer  com- 
manding the  trans-Mississippi  military  department,  is  an  at- 
tempt to  sustain    the  military  authority  in  the  exercise  of 
the  constitutional,  judicial  function  of  issuing  warrants,  and 
to  give  validity  to  unconstitutional  seizures  of  the  persons 
of  the  people;   and  as  the  said  act,  by   its   express   terms, 
confines  its  operations  to  the  upholding  of  this  class  of  un- 
constitutional seizures,  the  whole  suspension  attempted  to 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2/1 

be  authorized  by  it,  and  the  whole  act  itself,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  this  General  Assembly,  are  unconstitutional. 

4.  That,  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the 
said  act  is  a  dangerous  assault  upon  the  constitutional  power 
of  the  courts,  and  upon  the  liberty  of  the  people,  and  be- 
yond the  power  of  any  possible  necessity  to  justify  it;  and 
while  our  Senators  and  Representatives   in    Congress   are 
earnestly  urged  to  take  the  first  possible    opportunity  to 
have  it  repealed,  we  refer  the  question  of  its  validity  to  the 
courts,  with  the  hope  that  the  people  and  the  military  au- 
thorities will  abide  by  the  decision. 

5.  That,  as  constitutional  liberty  is  the  sole  object  which 
our  people  and  our  noble  army  have,  in  our  present  terrible 
struggle  with  the  government  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  also  is  a 
faithful  adherence  to   it,  on  the  part  of  our  own  govern- 
ment, through  good  fortune  in  arms,  and  through  bad,  one 
of  the  great  elements  of  our  strength  and  final  success,  be- 
cause the  constant  contrast  of  constitutional  government,  on 
our  part,  with  the  usurpations  and  tyrannies  which  charac- 
terize the  government  of  our  enemy  under  the  ever-recur- 
ring and  ever-false  plea  of  the  necessities  of  war,  will  have 
the  double  effect  of  animating  our  people  with  an  uncon- 
querable zeal,  and  of  inspiring  the  people  of  the  North  more 
and  more  with  a  desire  and  determination  to  put  an  end  to 
a   contest   which    is   waged   by    their    government   openly 
against  our  liberty,  and  as  truly,  but  more  covertly,  against 
their  own. 

THOMAS  HARDEMAX, 
Speaker  House  Representatives. 
L.  CARRIXGTOX,  Clerk. 

PETER  COXE, 

President  pro  tcin.  of  Senate. 
L.  H.  KENAN,  Secretary  of  Senate. 

Approved  March  19,  1864: 

JOSEPH  E.  BROWN,  Governor. 

He  also  introduced  the  following  resolutions,  "Declaring 
the  ground  on  which  the  Confederate  States  stand  in  the 
war,  and  the  terms  on  which  peace  ought  to  be  offered  to 
the  enemy: " 


2/2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Georgia  do  resolve,  i. 
That,  "to  secure  the  rights  of  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  governments  were  instituted  among  men,  deriv- 
ing their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed; 
that  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive 
of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its 
foundations  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in 
such  a  form,  as  shall  seem  to  them  most  likely  to  effect 
their  safety  and  happiness." 

2.  That  the  best  possible  commentary  upon  this  grand 
text  of  our  fathers  of  1776  is  their  accompanying  action, 
which  it  was  put  forth  to  justify,  and  that  action   was  the 
immortal  declaration  that  the  former  political  connection 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  State   of  Great  Britain   was 
dissolved,    and  the  Thirteen  Colonies   were,    and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  not  one  independent  State,  but  thirteen  inde- 
pendent States,  each  of  them  being  such  a  "  people  "  as  had 
the  right,  whenever  they  chose  to  exercise   it,    to  separate 
themselves  from  a  political  association  and  government  of 
their  former  choice,  and  institute  a  new  government  to  suit 
themselves. 

3.  That  if  Rhode  Island,  \vith   her  meager  elements  of 
nationality,  was  such  a  "people"  in  1776,  when  her  sepa- 
ration from  the  government  and  people   of  Great   Britain 
took  place,  much  more  was  Georgia,  and  each  of  the  seced- 
ing States,  with  their  large  territories,  populations  and  re- 
sources, such  a  "people,"  and  entitled  to  exercise  the  same 
right  in  1861,  when  they  decreed  their  separation  from  the 
government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  and  if  the 
separation  was  rightful  in  the  first  case,  it  was  more  clearly 
so  in  the  last — the  right  depending,  as  it  does  in  the  case 
of  every  "people"   for  whom  it   is   claimed,  simply   upon 
their  fitness  and   their   will   to    constitute   an    independent 
State. 

4.  That  this  right  was  perfect  in  each  of  the  States,  to  be 
exercised  by  her,  or  at  her  own  pleasure,  without  challenge 
or  resistance   from   any   other  power   whatever;   and  while 
these  Southern  States  had  long  had  reason  enough  to  justify 
its  assertion  against  some  of  their  faithless  associates,  yet, 
remembering    the   dictate   of   "prudence,"   that    "govern- 
ments long  established  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  27$ 

transient  causes,"  they  forbore  a  resort  to  its  exercise  until 
numbers  of  the  Northern  States,  State  after  State,  through 
a  series  of  years,  and  by  studied  legislation,  had  arrayed 
themselves  in  open  hostility  against  an  acknowledged  pro- 
vision of  the  Constitution,  and  had  at  last  succeeded  in  the 
election  of  a  President  who  was  the  avowed  exponent  and 
executioner  of  their  faithless  designs  against  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  their  Southern  sisters — rights  which  had 
been  often  adjudicated  by  the  courts,  and  which  were  never 
denied  by  the  abolitionists  themselves,  but  upon  the  ground 
that  the  Constitution  itself  was  void  whenever  it  came  in  con- 
flict with  a  "higher  law,"  which  they  could  not  find  among 
the  laws  of  God,  and  which  depended,  for  its  exposition, 
solely  upon  the  elastic  consciences  of  rancorous  partisans. 
The  Constitution  thus  broken,  and  deliberately  and  persist- 
ently repudiated  by  several  of  the  States  who  were  parties 
to  it,  ceased,  according  to  universal  law,  to  be  binding  on 
any  of  the  rest,  and  those  States  which  had  been  wronged 
by  the  breach  were  justified  in  using  their  rights  to  provide 
"new  guards  for  their  future  security." 

5.  That  the  reasons  which  justified  the  separation,  when 
it  took  place,  have  been  vindicated  and  enhanced  in  force 
by  the  subsequent  course  of  the  government  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln— by  his  contemptuous  rejection  of  the  Confederate 
commissioners,  who  were  sent  to  Washington  before  the 
war  to  settle  all  matters  of  difference  without  a  resort  to 
arms,  thus  evincing  his  determination  to  have  war — by  his 
armed  occupation  of  the  territory  of  the  Confederate  States, 
and  especially  by  his  treacherous  attempt  to  reinforce  his 
garrisons  in  their  midst,  after  they  had,  in  pursuance  of 
their  right,  withdrawn  their  people  and  territory  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  his  government,  thus  rendering  war  a  neces- 
sity, and  actually  inaugurating  the  present  lamentable  war — 
by  his  official  denunciation  of  the  Confederate  States  as 
' '  rebel  "  and  ' '  disloyal  "  States  for  their  rightful  withdrawal 
from  their  faithless  associate  States,  while  no  word  of  cen- 
sure has  ever  fallen  from  him  against  those  faithless  States 
who  were  truly  "disloyal"  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitu- 
tion, which  was  the  only  cement  of  the  Union,  and  who 
were  the  true  authors  of  all  the  wrong  and  all  the  mischief 
of  the  separation,  thus  insulting  the  innocent  by  charging 
upon  them  the  crimes  of  his  own  guilty  allies — and,  finally, 


274  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

by  his  monstrous  usurpations  of  power  and  undisguised  re- 
pudiation of  the  Constitution,  and  his  mocking  scheme  of 
securing  a  republican  form  of  government  to  sovereign 
States  by  putting  nine-tenths  of  the  people  under  the  do- 
minion of  one-tenth,  who  may  be  abject  enough  to  swear 
allegiance  to  his  usurpation,  thus  betraying  his  design  to 
subvert  true  constitutional  republicanism  in  the  North  as 
well  as  in  the  South. 

6.  That,  while  we  regard  the  present  war  between  these 
Confederate  States  and  the  United  States  as  a  huge  crime, 
whose  beginning  and  continuance  are  justly  chargeable  to 
the  government  of  our  enemy,  yet,  we  do  not  hesitate   to 
affirm  that,  if  our  own  government,  and  the  people  of  both 
governments,  would  avoid  all  participation  in  the  guilt  of  its 
continuance,  it  becomes  all  of  them,  on  all  proper  occasions 
and  in  all  proper  ways — the  people  acting  through  their 
State  organizations  and  popular  assemblies,  and  our  govern- 
ment through   its    appropriate    departments — to   use  their 
earnest  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  this  unnatural,  unchristian 
and  savage  work  of  carnage  and  havoc;  and  to  this  end,  we 
earnestly    recommend   that  our  government,    immediately 
after  signal  successes  of  our  arms,  and  on  other  occasions, 
when  none  can  impute  its  action  to  alarm,  instead  of  a  sin- 
cere desire  for  peace,  shall  make  to  the  government  of  our 
enemy  an  official  offer  of  peace,  on  the  basis  of  the  great 
principle  declared  by  our  common  fathers  in  1776,  accom- 
panied by  the  distinct  expression  of  a  willingness,  on  our 
part,  to  follow  that  principle,  to  its  true  logical  consequences, 
by  agreeing  that  any  border  State,  whose  preference  for  our 
association  may  be  doubted,  (doubts  having  been  expressed 
as  to  the  wishes  of  the  border  States,)  shall  settle  the  ques- 
tion for  herself  by  a  convention,  to  be  elected  for  that  pur- 
pose,   after  the  withdrawal  of  all  military  forces,  of  both 
sides,  from  her  limits. 

7.  That  we  believe  this  course,  on  the  part  of  our  gov- 
ernment,   would   constantly    weaken,   and  sooner  or  later 
break  down,  the  war-power  of  our  enemy  by  showing  to 
his  people  the  justice  of  our  cause,  our  willingness  to  make 
peace  on  the  principles  of  1776,  and  the  shoulders  on  which 
rests  the  responsibility  for  the  continuance  of  the  unnatural 
strife;  that  it  would  be   hailed  by  our  people  and  citizen- 
soldiery,  who  are  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  war,  as  an  assur- 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  275 

ance  that  peace  will  not  be  unnecessarily  delayed,  nor  their 
sufferings  unnecessarily  prolonged;  and  that  it  would  be 
regretted  by  nobody  on  either  side,  except  men,  whose  im- 
portance, or  whose  gains,  would  be  diminished  by  peace, 
and  men  whose  ambitious  designs  would  need  cover  under 
the  ever-recurring  plea  of  the  necessities  of  war. 

8.  That  while  the  foregoing  is  an  expression  of  the  senti- 
ments cf  this  General  Assembly,  respecting  the  manner  in 
which  peace  should  be  sought,  we  renew  our  pledges  of  the 
resources  and  power  of  this  State  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
war,  defensive  on  our  part,  until  peace  is  obtained  upon 
just  and  honorable  terms,  and  until  the  independence  and 
nationality  of  the  Confederate  States  are  established  upon 
a  permanent  and  enduring  basis. 

THOMAS  HARDEMAN, 
Spcakc"'  House  Representatives. 
L.  CARRINGTON,  Clerk. 

PETER  CONE, 

President  pro  tern,  of  Senate. 
L.  H.  KENAN,  Secretary  of  Senate. 
Approved  March  19,  1864: 

JOSEPH  E.  BROWN,  Governor. 

Judge  Stephens  always  felt  the  liveliest  interest  in  the 
fortunes  of  aspiring  and  ingenuous  youth  ;  and  while  he  was 
the  most  undemonstrative  of  men,  perhaps  no  man  in  the 
country  could  count  a  larger  number  of  young  men  so 
warmly  attached  to  him.  He  was  ever  ready  to  aid  the  de- 
serving by  his  counsels  or  by  his  purse ;  nor  was  he  the  least 
obtrusive  with  the  one,  or  the  least  stint  with  the  other. 

The  following  letter  was  written  to  the  son  of  his  old 
friend,  Dr.  Edward  \V.  Alfriend.  The  boy,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  had  entered  the  military  service  of  the  Confederate 
States.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  Georgia  bar,  of  brill- 
iant promise : 

[  From  L.  S.  to  Master  Alfred  Alfriend.  ] 

SPARTA,  May  30,  1864. 

DEAR  ALFRED — At  all  events,  I 

took  a  thorough  search  for  you,  but  did  not  find  you.     I 


276  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

have  never  yet  ascertained  where  you  spent  that  night  in 
Augusta.  Cousin  Sally  expressed  her  regret  that  you  did 
not  go  to  her  house  with  brother  and  myself,  after  she  had 
learned  from  us  that  you  had  gone  along  on  the  same  train 
with  us,  and  had  to  spend  the  night  somewhere  in  Augusta. 
My  regret  on  the  occasion  was  not  founded  on  my  anxiety 
for  your  comfort  during  the  night,  for  I  did  not  doubt  that 
you  would  find  comfortable  quarters  somewhere ;  but  on 
the  desire  I  had  to  have  you  spend  the  night  with  me,  and, 
at  all  events,  to  give  you  a  parting  grasp  of  the  hand  and  a 
hearty  God-speed  in  the  new  and  important  career  on  which 
you  were  entering.  This  letter  is  intended  mainly  to  speak 
that  God-speed  now  for  then,  and  to  assure  you  of,  at  least, 
one  friend,  outside  your  own  immediate  family,  who  will 
always  look  with  an  anxious  eye  for  your  preservation  amid 
the  dangers  of  many  kinds  which  will  surround  you,  and 
for  your  restoration  to  friends,  unscathed  in  body  and  soul, 
with  worthy  laurels,  wrung  from  rugged  war,  to  be  long 
enjoyed  and  increased  amid  the  charms  of  blessed  peace. 
I  don't  wish  to  render  my  letter  disagreeable  to  you  by  ob- 
truding upon  you  unwelcome  advice;  nor  do  I  think  that 
you  will  take  that  view  of  a  few  words  drawn  from  the  ex- 
perience of  one  who  has  been  a  pretty  close,  if  not  a  very 
long,  observer  of  the  world,  and  whose  motive  for  speaking 
them  is  a  desire  to  serve  a  young  friend  treading  an  untried 
path.  I  know  the  enemy  well,  and  whether  you  have  yet 
found  out  the  fact  or  not,  I  know  that  you  will  be  exposed 
there  to  peculiar  and  strong  temptations.  I  do  not  mean 
to  flatter  you  when  I  say  that  I  know  no  one  of  your  age 
on  whom  I  should  expect  such  temptations  to  produce  less 
impression ;  and  yet,  I  must  beg  you  not  to  be  too  self-con- 
fident. I  do  not  mean  to  guard  you  against  vanity,  but 
against  an  over-confidence  in  your  stability  and  firmness. 
Some  distrust,  on  that  point,  is  far  better  than  an  undoubting 
confidence.  "  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed 
lest  he  fall."  This  is  an  admonition  from  God  himself,  and 
no  sensible  man  has  ever  reached  my  time  of  life  without 
having  had  occasion  to  apply  it  to  himself.  There  are  two 
things  which,  united,  can  bring  you  safe  through  your  pres- 
ent moral  ordeal,  and  nothing  else  can:  the  cultivation  of  a 
habit  of  careful  self -watching,  and  a  meek,  but  unflinching 
resolution  never  to  disregard  the  dictates  of  your  judgment. 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  277 

Never  let  any  circumstance  seduce  you  into  the  taking  of 
even  a  single  drink  of  liquor,  unless  it  shall  be  in  good  faith 
prescribed  for  you  by  a  physician ;  and  never  allow  your 
lips  to  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  The  scenes  of  death 
and  havoc,  amid  which  you  will  have  to  move,  will  inevita- 
bly tend  to  render  you  callous,  and  to  harden  and  blunt 
those  gentle  and  noble  sympathies  which  are  so  appropriate 
to  youth,  and  which  are  an  honor  and  ornament  to  all  ages 
and  conditions.  I  say  this  will  be  the  tendency,  and  there 
is  no  man  who  can  entirely  escape  its  natural  effects. 
Hence  it  is  that  long  wars  always  tend  to  produce  a  relapse 
from  civilization  back  into  barbarism.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, there  is,  for  the  preservation  of  the  moral  nature, 
no  expedient  equal  to  the  careful  cultivation  and  habitual 
exercise  of  the  intellectual  faculties.  I  know  there  is  no 
very  favorable  opportunity  for  this  sort  of  cultivation  in  the 
midst  of  camps,  but  there  is  some.  I  was  glad  to  know 
that  you  had  sent  home  for  a  book.  You  will  not  have 
much  opportunity  to  read,  for  you  cannot  procure  the  nec- 
essary books,  but  you  will  have  ample  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise your  reason  upon  events  passing  around  you.  I  don't 
mean  to  invite  you  to  throw  yourself  into  the  invidious  at- 
titude of  a  young  critic,  but  to  cultivate  a  habit  of  exercis- 
ing your  reason  and  drawing  conclusions  from  the  great 
events  and  scenes  in  which  you  will  be  moving;  and,  by  all 
means,  cultivate  the  habit  of  reducing  your  thoughts  (what- 
ever course  they  may  take)  to  writing  and  sending  them 
home  to  your  friends.  After  all,  there  is  no  process,  for 
training  and  developing  the  intellect,  equal  to  writing. 
Lord  Bacon  said,  "  Reading  makes  a  full  man,  conversation 
a  ready  man,  and  writing  an  accurate  man."  I  shall  always 
be  glad  to  get  letters  from  you  myself;  but  I  need  not  as- 
sure you  that  my  motive  in  advising  you  to  write  is  not  a 
selfish  one.  Form  the  habit  of  trying  to  understand  all  you 
hear,  all  you  read,  and  all  you  see,  not  excepting  the  plans 
and  military  movements  of  your  great  leader  in  arms. 
There  is  nothing  presumptuous  in  your  endeavoring  to  un- 
derstand them  all,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  habit,  and  the 
comparison  of  your  antecedent  conclusions  with  subsequent 
events,  will  soon  render  the  study  both  pleasant  and  profit- 
able to  you.  Better  occupy  your  thoughts  in  this  way  than 
let  them  dwindle  and  dry  up.  A  well-occupied  intellect  is 


2/8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

the  best  security  for  a  sound  and  happy  heart.  I  shall  not 
undertake  to  give  you  a  word  of  news,  for  Ben  can  tell  you 
more  in  an  hour  than  I  would  with  you  in  a  day.  I  think 
of  you  very  often,  and  never  without  a  fervent  aspiration  to 
God  to  preserve  you  through  all  your  dangers,  and  to 
lighten  all  your  privations  and  toils  with  a  good  conscience 
and  cheerful  spirit.  I  commend  you  to  some  verses  which 
I  take  from  Burns'  epistle  to  a  young  friend.  The  senti- 
ments are  noble,  and  expressed  with  much  force  and  beauty. 

Good-bye,  and  may  God  bless  you. 

Your  friend,  LINTOX  STEPHENS. 

"The  fear  o'  hell's  a  hangman's  whip, 

To  hand  the  wretch  in  order, 
But  where  you  feel  your  honour  grip, 

Let  that  aye  be  your  border — 
Its  slightest  touches,  instant  pause, 

Debar  a'  side  pretenses, 
And  resolutely  keep  its  laws, 

Uncaring  consequences. 

"The  great  Creator  to  revere 

Must  sure  become  the  creature  ; 
But  still  the  preaching  cant  forbear, 

And  ev'n  the  rigid  feature; 
Vet,  ne'er  with  wits  profane  to  range, 

Be  complaisance  extended, 
An  Atheist's  laugh's  a  poor  exchange 

For  Deity  offended. 

"When  ranting  round  in  pleasure's  ring, 

Religion  may  be  blinded, 
Or  if  she  gie  a  random  stitig, 

It  may  be  little  minded  ; 
But  when  on  life  we're  lempest-driv'n, 

A  conscience  but  a  canker, 
A  correspondence  fix'd  wi'  heav'n 

Is  sure  a  noble  anchor." 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  June  4,  1864. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Joe  Myers  told  me,  yesterday  morning, 
that  he  left  you  better  the  night  before,  and  I  hope  you  are 
as  well  as  usual  by  this  time.  I  am  writing  now  in  the 
Governor's  office.  It  is  a  rainy,  muddy  morning.  I  am 
told  that  it  rained  nearly  all  night  last  night.  I  slept  in  a 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  279 

room  so  remote  from  the  outer  world  that  I  had  no  idea 
what  the  elements  were  doing  until  daylight  gave  me  a  view 
through  the  window.  I  then  found  things  very  much  in 
the  same  state  as  they  now  are  at  8J/4  o'clock  A.  M.  Char- 
ley DuBose  and  I  slept  in  the  same  bed  in  the  printing- 
room  of  his  brother-in-law,  Richards.  We  have  a  mattress 
on  a  bedstead,  and  do  very  well.  The  night  before  last, 
the  Governor  and  I  slept  in  the  same  bed,  out  at  General 
Foster's,  two  miles  in  the  country.  The  Governor's  head- 
quarters, or  his  lodgings,  are  at  Colonel  Erskine's.  He  in- 
vited me  to  go  and  share  his  bed  with  him  there  last  night, 
but  I  declined.  After  this,  Dick  Johnston  and  I  will  occu- 
py the  bed  in  the  printing-office,  and  Charley  will  sleep 
with  Richards  in  the  back  room  of  Richards'  book-store. 
You  may  infer,  from  all  this  piling  up  in  sleeping,  going, 
as  it  does,  to  the  extent  of  causing  even  the  Governor  to 
sleep  double,  that  this  city  is  very  much  crowded.  Not  so, 
however.  Its  quietness,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  striking  feat- 
ure in  comparison  with  its  condition  last  fall  during  the  ex- 
citement of  the  Chickamauga  fight.  I  judge,  from  appear- 
ances in  the  city,  that  General  Johnston  has  very  few  idlers 
and  dodgers  in  the  rear.  The  newspaper  accounts  of  the 
multitudes  of  refugees  crowded  here  are  monstrous  exag- 
gerations. I  want  no  better  evidence  than  a  walk  through 
the  streets  here.  I  can't  help  suspecting  that  the  repre- 
sentations which  have  been  made  on  this  point  were  a  trick 
to  get  people  to  send  provisions  into  this  place.  This  has 
been  the  effect.  Our  Hancock  people  sent  up  a  lot  of  pro- 
visions for  refugees.  John  T.  Martin  and  John  Little  ar- 
rived here  with  the  Hancock  cargo  yesterday  morning.  In 
the  lot  brought  by  them  were  fifty  pounds  of  flour  contrib- 
uted by  me.  After  seeing  the  state  of  things  here,  I  felt 
as  if  I  had  been  sold.  I  am  messing  with  the  Governor's 
staff.  Dick  Johnston,  Charley  DuBose,  Hidell,  Colonel 
Fulton,  Colonel  Mobley  (of  Harris)  and  myself  comprise 
our  mess.  We  draw  rations  from  the  State  and  turn  them 
over  to  an  old  gentleman  in  town  by  the  name  of  Mitchell. 
He  takes  our  rations  and  charges  us  four  dollars  a  day 
apiece  for  board  at  his  table.  He  gives  us  very  good  plain 
fare,  and  we  all  like  the  arrangement  very  well.  I  do  not 
expect  to  take  up  quarters  at  the  camp  here  ;  but  when  the 
troops  move  forward  to  the  front,  I  shall  go  with  them  as  a 


280  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

private  in  the  ranks.  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that,  if 
I  would  only  permit  the  use  of  my  name,  I  would  be  elected 
brigadier-general  without  opposition.  Colonel  Carswell,  of 
Jefferson,  who  has  been  elected  in  the  first  brigade,  sent 
me  special  word  that  if  I  would  say  I  would  serve,  he  would 
not  be  a  candidate.  Soon  after  my  arrival  here,  I  became 
convinced,  and  I  have  not  doubted  since,  that  I  could  have 
been  elected  with  great  ease ;  but  I  have  not  doubted  that 
I  have  done  right  in  declining.  I  have  kept  pretty  well 
since  I  have  been  here.  Did  you  find  a  letter  which  I  left 
on  your  table  for  you  ?  It  is  a  letter  which  I  had  mailed 
to  you  at  Richmond,  and  got  back  out  of  the  post-office 
after  getting  your  announcement  that  you  had  got  back 
home.  I  pulled  it  out  of  my  pocket  and  laid  it  on  the 
table  while  we  were  talking.  I  intended,  at  the  time,  to 
tell  you  of  it,  but  forgot  it.  I  see  there  has  been  further 
and  heavier  fighting  between  Lee  and  Grant.  I  am  very 
sorry  to  hear  of  Doles'  death.  I  reckon  poor  Dick  Greene 
had  to  run  the  gauntlet  once  more;  or,  was  he  not  in  the 
hospital  when  he  wrote  to  you  ?  I  believe  he  was  ;  but, 
whether  or  not,  I  trust  that  he  is  still  safe.  I  have  just 
this  moment  received  and  read  your  letter  of  yesterday. 
I  am  very  much  relieved  at  hearing  that  you  were  better, 
and  that  your  pains  were  rheumatic.  Rheumatism  in  the 
bowels,  proper,  is  itself  a  dangerous  affection,  but  I  think, 
by  some  remarks  dropped  by  you,  that  yours  is  in  the  ab- 
dominal muscles,  and  not  in  the  bowels.  Your  little 
sJion'cr  that  you  received  with  apparent  gratification  sinks 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  our  rains  here. 
Rain,  rain,  rain — it  still  rains!  Dick  has  somewhere  picked 
up  the  last  volume  of  "  Les  Miserables,"  and  I  have  been 
reading  it.  It  is  now  at  my  bed-room,  but  I  shall  go  and 
get  it,  rain  or  no  rain,  as  soon  as  I  finish  my  letter;  for  I 
am  very  much  in  want  of  something  to  do.  I  should  like 
very  much  to  be  at  home;  but  I  am  not  discontented.  .  . 
I  am  not  in  a  complaining  mood  this  morning,  nor  in  a  par- 
ticularly unhappy  state,  but  I  see  about  as  little  light  under 
the  political  clouds  as  I  do  under  the  murk}',  physical 
ones  that  envelop  us.  I  know  the  latter  will  in  time  give 
way  to  renewed  sunshine;  will  the  former  ever  have  a  like 
blessed  sequel?  Not  in  my  day,  at  least.  General  Smith 
is  expected  here  to-day  to  take  charge  of  the  State  troops, 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  28 1 

and  the  Governor  has  telegraphed  General  Johnston  that 
they  will  be  ready  for  him  in  a  few  days.  I  believe  he 
said  "two  or  three  days."  Now,  my  own  opinion  is  that 
they  will  not  be  ready  to  move  as  soon  as  the  Governor 
thinks,  for  I  have  seen  enough  of  organising  to  know  that 
there  is  always  more  delay  than  anybody  expects ;  but  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  they  will  be  sent  to  the  front  pretty 
soon.  I  doubt,  from  all  I  hear,  whether  there  will  be  any 
early  engagement  between  Johnston  and  Sherman  ;  but  they 
are  having  fighting  there  every  day — sometimes  pretty 
heavy 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  Septerr.ber  15,  1864. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Strange, 

strange,  passing  strange  that  the  rulers  and  wise  men  of  the 
world  should  be  so  inattentive,  if  not  so  profoundly  igno- 
rant, concerning  a  history  which,  in  my  judgment,  teaches 
the  profoundest  wisdom  in  a  light  which,  from  its  very 
clearness,  is  at  once  splendid  and  fascinating.  What  a 
splendid  illustration  Mr.  Calhoun  could  have  drawn  from 
this  history  for  his  theory  of  concurrent  majorities  and  nul- 
lification as  a  peaceful  remedy !  By  the  way,  I  think  Mr. 
Calhoun,  while  he  was  the  soundest  and  most  philosophical 
expounder  of  our  system,  was  exceedingly  unfortunate  in 
his  nomenclature.  The  phrase  "concurrent  majorities"  fails 
to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  what  he  meant  by  it;  but,  worst 
of  all,  it  loses  a  great  element  of  popularity  which  would 
have  been  found  in  the  true  and  accurate  statement.  A 
government  of  the  people — that  is  to  say,  of  the  whole 
people,  or  a  liberal  approximation  of  the  whole,  in  oppo- 
sition to  a  government  of  a  fragment  of  the  people,  even 
though  that  fragment  might  reach  a  majority  of  the  whole — 
a  government  wherein  every  State,  each  State  constitut- 
ing, in  the  main,  a  homogeneous  people,  with  identical 
interests,  should  have  security  for  life,  liberty  and  property, 
dependent  not  upon  the  will  of  any  one  man,  or  number  of 
men,  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  but  solely  upon  its  fidelity 
to  itself — a  government  without  power  to  oppress  any  in- 
terest, because  every  interest  would  have  the  power  of  self- 
protection — a  government,  therefore,  disarmed  of  all  inter- 
28 


282  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

nal  aggressive  power,  and  fulfilling  the  requisites  of  a  model 
government  by  being  confined  to  the  sole  legitimate  office 
of  government — that  is,  affording  security  to  its  members 
by  restraining  aggressions  upon  their  rights.  But  church 

time  has  come,  and  *I  must  suspend 

I  think  the  term  "nullification"  equally  unfortunate,  or 
more  so,  for  it  conveys  a.  false  idea  of  its  real  meaning — or 
rather,  of  the  sense  in  which  Mr.  Calhoun  used  it — and  that 
false  idea  was  the  greatest  obstruction  to  its  acceptance 
among  the  people.  There  is  a  real  difference,  and  a  still 
greater  popular  difference  between  annulling  a  law  which 
has  passed  through  all  the  forms  of  the  law-making  power, 
and  interfering  to  prevent  the  final  passage  of  a  law.  One 
house  of  the  Legislature  rejects  a  bill  which  has  passed  the 
other,  or  the  President  rejects  it  after  it  has  passed  both, 
and  it  never  becomes  a  law.  So  after  it  has  passed  all 
three  of  these,  it  may  be  rejected  by  the  interposition  of 
any  one  of  the  sovereign  States;  and  such  a  rejection  as 
this  is  not  so  much  a  departure  from  popular  government 
as  the  rejection,  which  we  have  confessedly  in  our  .system 
is — the  rejection  by  one  man.  It  ought  to  have  been  called 
the  veto  power  of  the  States,  and  never  the  right  of  nullifica- 
tion— a  veto  not  provided  for  expressly  in  the  Constitution, 
it  is  true,  but  resulting  necessarily  from  the  fact  that  sov- 
ereign States  are  the  parties  to  it,  and  forming,  therefore, 
a  part  of  our  system  of  government,  and  being  no  more 
revolutionary  in  its  exercise  than  in  the  exercise  of  the 
veto  power  on  the  part  of  the  President,  and  intended, 
like  that,  to  be  an  additional  check  upon  legislation  ;  that 
is  to  say,  an  additional  security  in  the  hands  of  every  State 
against  aggression  from  the  rest.  When  you  go  further 
and  draw  the  very  clear  distinction  which  there  is  (but 
which  Mr.  Calhoun  failed  to  make  sufficiently  plain)  be- 
tween one  State  governing  all  the  rest,  and  preventing 
them  simply  from  governing  her,  you  would,  I  think,  go 
a  great  way  in  relieving  this  much-abused  theory  from  the 
demagogical  misrepresentations  which  make  it  odious  by 
making  it  misunderstood.  All  fair-minded  men  will  desire 
a  government  which,  while  it  withholds  their  own  hands 
from  aggressions  upon  others,  secures  them  also  from  ag- 
gressions by  others.  Wise  men  will  sec  still  further  that 
there  can  be  no  reliable  protection  to  any  without  protec- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  283 

tion  to  all ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  any  system  whose  pro- 
tection does  not  extend  to  all  interests  cannot  be  reliable 
and  steadfast  for  any.  I  could  write  page  after  page  on 
this  subject,  but  the  brief  outline  which  I  have  given  will 
be  sufficient  to  give  you  a  full  understanding  of  my 
ideas,  and  that  is  all  I  wish.  Before  I  pass  entirely  away, 
however,  I  will  say  that  I  consider  all  the  talk  which  speak- 
ers and  writers  (including  Mr.  Calhoun)  have  held  on  the 
subject  of  the  "social  compact"  is  sheer  fiction.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  "social  compact" — never  was,  and  never 
can  be.  It  is  as  pure  a  fiction  as  the  common  law  doctrine 
of  a  superse-assumpsit  is,  and  a  much  more  useless  one. 
Indeed,  I  think  it  has  been  the  source  of  ^serious  mischiefs. 
The  common  law  supposes  every  man  to  promise  to  do  cer- 
tain duties,  and  there  is  no  harm  in  this,  since  the  fiction 
is  used  merely  to  furnish  the  form  of  a  remedy  for  the 
breach  of  those  duties  ;  but  what  possible  use  can  there  be 
in  supposing  that  mankind,  or  any  part  of  them,  ever  agreed 
to  form  society  ? 

Mr.  Calhoun  himself  says,  very  justly,  that  society  is  the 
natural  state  of  man — that  all  men  are  born  into  it.  How, 
then,  can  he  talk,  as  he  does  talk  in  his  debate  with  Mr. 
Webster,  about  the  social  compact  being  the  foundation  of 
socie'ty?  My  idea  of  it  is  that  all  things,  including  man, 
are  under  an  obligation,  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Creator 
for  their  own  good,  to  live  according  to  their  own  nature ; 
that  is  to  say,  to  live  so  as  to  attain  the  greatest  possible 
development  of  their  natural  gifts.  Society  is  the  natural 
state  of  man ;  he  can  do  nothing  in  any  other  situation, 
and  this  is  the  ground  of  his  obligation  to  maintain  society — 
not  any  promise  or  agreement  to  do  so,  for  none  such  was 
ever  made.  Society  cannot  be  maintained  without  govern- 
ment, and,  therefore,  the  maintenance  of  government,  of 
some  sort,  rests  on  the  same  foundation  of  natural  obliga- 
tion, and  not  on  any  fictitious  compact.  There  is  no  compact, 
no  agreement  among  men  in  relation  either  to  society  or 
to  government,  until  you  come  to  what  is  properly  called 
the  constitution  of  government.  This  is  indeed  a  compact 
which  creates  obligations  correspondent  to  its  provisions ;  but 
it  is  not  a  compact  to  support  either  society  or  government 
in  general ;  it  is  a  compact  to  support  the  particular  gov- 
ernment established  by  it,  Society  and  government  are 


284  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ordained  by  God,  as  is  shown  by  their  manifest  necessity 
to  the  nature  with  which  He  has  formed  mankind;  but  the 
particular  forms  of  either  are  a  very  different  affair.  There 
is  no  room  for  difference  of  opinion  on  the  first  proposition, 
and  accordingly,  we  find  that  all  mankind,  in  all  ages,  and 
under  all  circumstances,  have  had  society  and  government, 
but  not  so  as  to  the  form  of  either,  best  suited  to  different  por- 
tions of  the  human  family.  I  think,  however,  it  is  easy  to 
prove  that,  for  a  people  who  are  sufficiently  enlightened  to 
understand  it,  the  best  possible  form  of  government  is  that 
which  arms  every  interest  in  the  society  with  the  power  of 
self-protection.  The  very  reason  which  renders  govern- 
ment a  necessity  is  the  selfishness  of  men,  leading  them  to 
aggrandize  themselves  at  the  expense  of  others,  and  this 
reason  requires  the  remedy  to  go  to  the  extent  of  having 
every  part  of  the  society  protected  against  all  the  rest. 
How  can  this  possibly  be  so  well  effected  as  by  giving  every 
interest  the  power  of  self-protection  ?  With  an  enlightened 
people,  this  would  be  the  perfection  of  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment.  

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  13,  1864. 

1  have  seen  Burke's  review  of  your  letter.  The  answer 
which  you  make  to  him,  in  a  letter  which  I  got  from  you 
the  other  day,  is  not  the  right  one,  as  it  seems  to  me.  The 
consent  of  the  two  governments  does  not  relieve  your  pro- 
posed convention  of  States  from  the  objection  of  unconsti- 
tutionality.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  think  your  plan  is 
really  obnoxious  to  that  objection,  but  I  don't  think  the 
consent  of  the  two  governments  has  any  bearing  on  that 
point.  The  prohibition  against  compacts  or  agreements 
between  States  is  not  at  all  applicable  to  your  plan.  You 
don't  propose  to  form  any  compact  or  agreements  between 
States  ;  you  simply  propose  to  interchange  views,  and,  if 
possible,  to  unite,  not  in  a  compact,  but  in  a  plan  to  be 
submitted  to  the  States  for  ratification,  or  rather  for  adop- 
tion. You  expressly  negative  any  binding  authority  in 
the  convention,  confining  its  action  to  simple  conference 
and  recommendation.  So  much  for  the  convention.  When 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  285 

you  get  one  step  further,  and  propose  to  the  States  a 
scheme  of  peace  which  may  involve  the  termination  of  the 
existing  government,  as  the  convention  might  do,  the  case 
assumes  a  new  aspect ;  but  the  proposed  action  would  not 
be  unconstitutional  unless  secession  was  so.  I  don't  be- 
lieve that  secession  was  unconstitutional,  nor  do  I  believe 
it  would  be  unconstitutional  to  take  the  proposed  action. 
If  the  scheme  of  peace  proposed  should  contemplate  a 
subversion  of  the  existing  government,  its  adoption  by  any 
State  would,  it  is  true,  terminate  the  operation  of  the  Con- 
stitution in  that  State ;  but  the  right  of  each  State  to  do 
this  whenever  she  pleases  is  the  foundation-stone  of  our 
government.  It  would  not  be  a  question  of  carrying  on  the 
government,  consistently  with  the  Constitution,  but  it 
would  be  a  putting  of  the  new  government  upon  trial, 
as  we  have  already  put  the  old  one  on  trial  and  de- 
cided against  its  continuance.  To  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment according  to  the  Constitution  is  one  thing — to  de- 
cide whether  the  government  shall  be  continued  or  not  is 
a  very  different  thing.  The  consent  of  the  government 
doesn't  seerh  to  me  to  touch  this  question  of  constitutionality. 
The  consent  of  the  two  governments  is  very  desirable, 
but  not  at  all  necessary  to  cure  any  unconstitutionality. 
There  is  no  unconstitutionality ;  and  if  there  was  any,  their 
consent  couldn't  cure  it.  This  reminds  me  to  remark  upon 
a  new  idea  which  is  passing  current  without  a  challenge 
from  any  quarter,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  but  which  is  full 
of  error  and  mischief:  I  mean  the  idea  that  all  the  States 
of  our  Confederacy  are  forbidden,  by  good  faitJi,  to  secede 
from  it  during  the  war.  Whence  comes  this  obligation  of 
faith?  Where  is  the  pledge  that  would  be  broken  by  se- 
cession? How  can  the  question  be  affected  by  the  state  of 
war?  Shall  it  be  said  there  is  an  implied  understanding  on 
the  part  of  all  to  abide  the  common  fortune  ?  To  abide  it 
how  long?  Forever?  Then  secession  has  ceased  forever 
as  a  rightful  resort.  During  the  war?  Then  our  rulers 
may  defeat  the  right  as  long  as  they  choose  by  prolonging 
the  war.  There  can  be  but  one  sound  view  on  this  subject. 
It  is  gratuitous  to  be  implying  obligations  when  the  Con- 
stitution was  intended  as  the  expression  of  all  that  were 
assumed.  Those  people  who  prate  about  the  bad  faith  of 
breaking  pledges,  which  can  nowhere  be  found,  arc  the 


2S6  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

same  who  defend  the  government  in  breaking  its  most  spe- 
cific and  formal  promises.  It  is  a  cant  invented  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  usurpation  and  consolidation.  It  is  an  arti- 
fice of  power  to  perpetuate  itself,  and  to  deny  all  principles 
which  can  imperil  its  existence.  It  is  a  lie,  a  cheat,  and  a 
delusion.  It  is  the  right  of  all  States  to  quit  associations, 
and  form  new  ones  whenever  they  please.  It  is  a  right 
which  is  truly  inalienable,  which  cannot  be  surrendered 
even  by  the  most  solemn  constitutional  compact,  for  the 
power  to  bargain  it  away  involves  the  power  to  alter  the 
rights  of  mankind.  To  admit  that  any  generation  can  be 
barred  from  this  right  by  the  action  of  predecessors  is  to 
deny  the  right  itself  in  toto.  The  essence  of  the  right  con- 
sists in  making  the  change  whenever  the  people  please. 
Such  is  the  right.  Its  exercise  can  be  justified  only  by  con- 
siderations of  national  interest,  and  is  always  proper  when 
interest  justifies  it.  In  other  words,  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  power  or  good  faith  in  conflict  with  the  irnc  inter- 
est of  either  nations  or  individuals.  True  interest  and 
power  always  pull  in  the  same  direction 

When  the  Federal  army,  under  General  Sherman,  ap- 
proached the  capitol  at  Millcdgeville,  in  1864,  the  General 
Assembly  was  in  session.  The  panic  the  intelligence  pro- 
duced was  very  great ;  nor  was  it  confined  exclusively  to 
the  citizens  of  the  city.  A  large  number  of  members  of 
the  Legislature  shared  it  with  them.  Vehicles  of  every 
description  were  in  urgent  demand ;  the  most  fabulous 
prices  were  paid  for  every  sort,  from  the  gentleman's  coach 
down  to  the  clumsiest  and  most  unsightly  ox-cart.  Gov- 
ernor Brown,  in  view  of  the  near  approach  of  the  Federal 
army,  and  consequent  dispersion  of  the  Legislature,  sent  a 
message  to  the  General  Assembly,  officially  communicating 
the  intelligence  already  so  appallingly  known  to  the  mem- 
bers individually,  wherein  he  submitted  to  their  judgment 
the  necessity,  or  propriety,  of  adopting  some  measure  which 
would  authorize  him  to  exercise  extra  constitutional  or  dis- 
cretionary powers  in  certain  emergencies,  until  the  Legis- 
lature should  re-convene.  The  message  was  immediately 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  287 

taken  up  in  the  Senate,  and  the  recommendation,  or  sug- 
gestion therein  contained,  adopted  by  that  body,  ncm.  con., 
or  nearly  so.  It  was  forthwith  transmitted  to  the  House, 
and  immediately  taken  up  for  action.  Judge  Stephens  at 
once  rose  and  opposed  its  adoption  in  a  thirty  minutes' 
speech  of  superlative  power  and  eloquence.  Its  effect  was 
electrical  and  crushing.  After  making  a  noble  plea  for  "a 
government  of  laws  and  not  of  men,"  he  concluded  by  say- 
ing, in  substance: 

"I,  sir,  have  been  denounced  by  some  mistaken,  but 
doubtless  well-meaning  men,  as  an  enemy  to  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Confederate  government,  because  I  op- 
posed those  of  its  measures,  which,  in  my  judgment,  in- 
volved unconstitutional  stretches  of  power,  dangerous 
alike  to  the  success  of  our  common  cause  and  to  popular 
liberty.  Time  will  determine  whether  they  or  I  are  the 
better  friends  to  the  administration — I,  who  warn  it  of  the 
rocks  and  breakers  ahead  that  will  wreck  it,  or  they,  who, 
if  they  have  eyes  to  see,  see  not,  or  tongues  to  speak,  speak 
only  to  flatter  or  deceive.  It  has  been  said  that  I  am  a  foe 
to  President  Davis.  That  is  not  true.  It  has  been  said  I 
am  the  friend  of  Governor  Brown.  That  is  true.  It  is  also 
true  that  I  warmly  espoused  his  side  of  the  controversy  with 
the  President  on  the  subjects  of  conscription,  impressment, 
etc.  Why?  Because,  Governor  Brown  was  right.  Pres- 
ident Davis  was  wrong,  in  my  humble  judgment — no  per- 
sonal feeling,  one  way  or  the  other,  lent  bias  to  that  judg- 
ment. Governor  Brown  was  right  in  that  controversy:  in 
the  measure  now  before  the  House,  he  is  wrong.  /  ivant 
no  master !  I  am  the  political  friend  of  no  man,  of  no  man — 
FREEMAN!  alack!  who  is  ready  to  accept  a  master!  be  he 
Abe  Lincoln,  or  Jeff.  Davis,  or  Joe  Brown,  or  anybody 
else!  I  am  the  friend  of  citizen-liberty,, of  rational,  consti- 
tutional liberty,  to-day,  to-morrow  and  forever!  And  be- 
fore I  support  any  measure  authorizing,  by  any  possibility, 


288  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

the  exercise  of  powers  so  monstrous  and  so  dangerous  to 
that  liberty  as  those  contemplated  in  the  resolutions  on 
your  table  ;  or  before  I  stand  by  any  man  who  would,  if  he 
could,  by  any  semblance  of  authority,  exercise  such  pow- 
ers, may  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning  and  my  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  !  No,  sir — never !  I  would 
perish  sooner.  If  I  am  to  have  a  master,  HE  must  forge 
the  chains;  I  will  never  hold  out  my  hands  to  take  on  the 
accursed  manacles  !  " 

The  Hon.  L.  N.  Trammell,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
House,  and  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  incident,  pro- 
nounced that  speech  the  grandest  outburst  of  fervid,  patri- 
otic, pent-up,  indignant  eloquence  he  ever  heard  uttered. 
The  resolution  was  tabled  without  a  division. 

When  the  awful  curtain  fell  upon  the  scene  of  surrender 
at  Appomattox,  the  last  hope  of  the  Confederacy  was  lost. 
Nothing  was  left  to  the  Confederates  but  to  secure  the  best 
terms  they  could  with  their  successful  adversary.  Of  course, 
it  was  a  question,  of  a  few  days  only,  how  long  the  small  but 
heroic  army  of  General  Johnston  could  continue  the  strug- 
gle against  the  combined  forces  of  Grant  and  Sherman. 
The  stipulations  of  Johnston's  surrender,  as  set  forth  in  the 
Sherman-Johnston  convention,  were  alike  honorable  to  the 
patriotism  and  magnanimity  of  both,  and  reflect  credit  alike 
upon  the  spirit  of  the  warrior  and  the  sagacity  of  the  states- 
man. The  work  of  that  convention  was,  after  the  surren- 
der of  the  army,  with  all  its  appointments  and  equipments, 
ignored  and  repudiated  by  Andrew  Johnson,  who  had  just 
acceded  to  the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ever-to-be-lamented  assassination  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. Mr.  Johnson  lived  long  enough  to  regret — if  his  sub- 
sequent political  course  may  be  regarded  as  testimony — 
that  he  put  his  foot  upon  that  basis  of  settlement — not  the 
reconstruction,  but  the  reconciliation  of  the  States.  The  effects 
of  that  rejection — or  rather,  of  that  ignorition,  (if  I  may  be 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  289 

allowed  to  coin  p.  word,)  are  felt  now;  and  happy  it  will  be 
if  all  their  traces  shall  be  wiped  out  ere  many  years  yet  to 
come  "be  numbered  with  those  before  the  flood." 

For  several  years,  Judge  Stephens  was  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church ;  he,  however,  dissolved  his  connec- 
tion therewith — not  because  his  faith  in  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity had  in  any  degree  abated,  but  because  he  had  lost 
faith  in  so  many  who  called  themselves  Christian  me'n.  The 
contrast  between  their  practice  and  their  profession  was  too 
marked  and  too  wide  for  his  charity  to  cover;  for  this  rea- 
son, coupled  with  the  additional  one,  that  he  did  not  en- 
tirely subscribe  to  all  the  tenets,  rites  and  ordinances  of  any 
of  the  denominations,  he  quit  the  fellowship.  In  February, 
1866,  he  gives  this  partial  epitome  of  his  religious  faith,  in 
a  letter  to  a  female  friend : 

I  think  I  am  very  nearly,  if  not 

quite,  devoid  of  religious  prejudices I  believe 

in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men.  I  be- 
lieve He  was  made  man  for  our  Teacher  and  Pattern,  and 
that  His  teachings  and  life  should  receive  implicit  obedi- 
ence and  imitation,  so  far  as  God  may,  with  propriety  and 
without  offense,  be  imitated  by  men.  While  I  believe  all 
this,  yet  I  confess  to  you  frankly,  that  I  have  never  been 
able  to  believe  that  any  one  of  the  many  organizations, 
claiming  each  for  itself  to  be  His  peculiar  and  exclusive 
representative  on  earth,  is  either  altogether  bad  or  alto- 
gether good.  I  can  but  regard  them  all  as  partaking  of  the 
infirmities  of  the  poor  human  beings  who  compose  them. 


Judge  Stephens  suffered  intensely  at  times  from  dyspep- 
sia. It  was  his  physical  demon — his  thorn  in  the  flesh. 
His  occasional  fits  of  depression — of  melancholy — some- 
times augmented  into  moroseness,  which  none  but  those 
who  knew  him  with  some  degree  of  intimacy  could  well  ac- 
count for — are  attributable  to  that  cause. 

To  the  same  friend,  he  writes: 


2QO  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

SPARTA,  February  12,  1866. 

You  were  perfectly  right,  my 

friend,  in  saying  that  I  ought  to  be  back  in .      I  have 

never  been  so  well  off  since  I  left  there  as  I  was  while  there ; 
and  this  leads  me  to  incur  the  horrible  risk  of  boring  you 
(this  idea  of  being  a  bore  at  all,  particularly  of  being  a  bore 
to  you,  is  intolerable)  by  giving  you  some  account  of  my 
health.  Do  you  know  what  dyspepsia  is  ?  I  hope  you  do 
not.  I  really  think  it  is  the  worst  bodily  (ah !  and  mental) 
affliction  I  ever  endured.  About  five  years  ago,  I  was  an 
intense  sufferer  from  it.  The  horror  of  it  must  be  felt  to  be 
understood.  The  deep  melancholy;  the  constant  feeling  of 
being  on  the  verge  of  paralysis,  and  of  consequent  imbecil- 
ity; the  profound  disgust  with  life,  petulance  which  con- 
stantly disgusts  one  with  his  own  littleness ;  the  waking  up 
twenty  times  in  a  night  with  a  sense  of  deadness  in  your 
limbs,  and  with  a  sense  that  if  you  had  waked  one  moment 
later,  you  must  have  died  instantly — can  you  begin  to  con- 
ceive of  it,  my  friend?  I  believe  a  dyspeptic  must  have 
written  these  lines: 

"  But,  ah  !   life's  beauty  and  its  pride, 

Its  freshness  and  its  light, 
Have  fled,  and  little  left  beside 

But  weariness  and  blight." 

By  the  way,  do  you  know  these  lines?  You  must  have 
seen  them,  but  I  trust  and  believe  that  you  have  never 
knoii'ii  them.  I  have.  I  will  only  mention  one  other  very 
distressing  peculiarity  of  this  horrible  visitation :  the  utter 
incapacity  for  any  prolonged  mental  exertion.  Well,  I  re- 
covered; I  never  felt,  however,  that  I  was  in  possession  of 
good  health  again  until  last  fall,  during  my  sojourn  in  the 

glorious  climate  of ,  and  at  a  distance  from  cares, 

and  in  the  midst  of  friends  who  made  the  time  pass  so  de- 
lightfully. Then  I  regained  my  health  fully,  and  "Rich- 
ard" felt  that  he  was  "himself  again."  Now,  what  I  have 
to  tell  you  farther  is,  that  I  have,  to  a  very  considerable 
extent,  relapsed  into  that  old  "slough  of  despond."  This 
attack  is  not  so  decided  as  the  old  one  ;  and  then  there  arc 
now  many  mitigating  surroundings;  for  you  must  remem- 
ber that  the  great  horror  consists  in  the  effect  upon  the 
Diind — upon  its  fears  and  affections,  and  upon  its  natural 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  2QI 

clinging  to  life.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  no  mean  advantage 
to  have  the  experience  of  having  passed  through  all  this 
before.  In  the  next  place,  a  man  who  has  lost  a  country, 
lost  thousands  of  warm  friends  in  the  mismanagement  of  a 
holy  cause ;  who  has  seen  human  blood  poured  out  like 
great  rivers,  yet  poured  in  vain — such  a  man  must  have  a 
very  diminished  appreciation  of  the  value  of  any  one  poor 
life,  even  if  that  one  happens  to  be  his  own.  Such  an  ex- 
perience necessarily  reduces  a  man's  capacity  for  misery. 
I  do  not  say  this  in  a  spirit  of  sardonic  defiance,  but  in  the 
sober  spirit  of  comforting  philosophy — that  same  old  phi- 
losophy which  discovered  that  a  fellow  at  the  bottom  of 
fortune's  wheel  has  at  least  one  advantage  from  the  situa- 
tion— the  sense  of  security  against  anything  worse.  Well, 
the  "  murder  is  out"  now.  I  have  never  written  so  much 
as  this  at  any  one  time  before  in  my  life,  to  any  one  person, 
on  the  subject  of  my  own  ailments.  I  have  talked  it  some- 
times during  the  days  of  my  horrors,  but  then  I  could  reg- 
ulate the  quantity  by  my  observations  on  the  patience  01 
the  listener.  I  have  thrown  myself  utterly  upon  your 
mercy,  trusting  somewhat  to  your  generosity,  as  well  as  to 
the  warmth  and  truth  of  your  friendship.  But,  my  friend, 
don't  you  believe  but  what  I  shall  get  well  again.  I  should 
get  over  it  very  soon  if  I  could  control  my  own  time,  as  I 
hope  to  do  soon,  but  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  for  a 
long  time  past.  You  have  no  idea  how  I  am  constantly 
pressed  and  annoyed  by  people  who  come  to  me  for  advice 
and  assistance  in  these  terrible  times;  but  be  assured  that 
I  am  preserving  a  reasonable  patience,  even  under  the  tor- 
tures of  a  disease  which  tries  one's  patience  in  a  peculiar 
degree.  They  are  my  fellow-sufferers  in  a  noble  cause,  and 
that  memory  invests  them  with  a  respect  which  is  not  al- 
ways clue  to  their  personal  worth.  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
take  a  little  recreation  soon,  and  run  away  from  trouble  for 
a  while  and  get  well  again 

To  another  female  friend,  he  writes : 

SPARTA,  March  18,  1866. 

After  finishing  and  sealing  up 

my  letter  of  last  night,  I  have  remembered  to  return  to  you 


2Q2  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

brother's  letter  which sent  me.      I  cannot  let  it  pass 

by  without  telling  you  how  profoundly  I  am  gratified  at  the 
good  understanding  and  cordial  relations  which  now  seem 
to  be  established  between  those  whom  I  love  best.  There 
is  between  you  and  dear  brother  a  great  deal  more  in  com- 
mon than  you  have  even  yet  suspected.  With  a  very 
marked  simplicity  of  character  in  most  respects,  he  still  has 
a  peculiar  reserve  which  has  never  been  entirely  penetrated 
by  anybody  but  me,  and  perhaps  not  entirely  even  by  me. 
He  has  been  an  extraordinary  sufferer — mental  as  well  as 
physical — and  I  am  sure  he  has  never  confided  the  nature 
of  his  keenest  mental  sufferings  to  anybody  but  me.  I 
would  tell  you  all  about  it  if  I  could  do  so  without  a  breach 
of  confidence.  I  will  only  add  that  he  has  come  out  con- 
queror over  all  his  sufferings,  and  has  at  last  ceased  to  suffer 
from  the  one  great  cause.  He  has  a  deep,  intense  nature, 
but  long,  and  patient,  and  watchful  self  discipline  has  ob- 
tained the  mastery  over  it.  He  now  moves  along — for 
years  has  moved  along — in  peace  and  contentment,  with 
eye,  and  heart,  and  soul  fixed  steadily  on  the  things  which 
lie  beyond  the  dark,  cold  river.  His  earthly  affections  are 
warm  and  pure,  and,  in  one  instance,  very  strong;  but  they 
are  all  subordinated  to  duty  and  to  Heaven.  His  religion 
is  very  beautiful,  and  forms  a  large  part  of  the  present  man. 
It  is  exceedingly  modest,  almost  shrinking  from  all  human 
observation  ;  but  it  is  very  deep  and  very  constant.  He 
does  not  know  that  I  am  aware  of  this ;  and  if  I  were  to  tell 
him  of  it,  it  would  be  like  the  sudden  dropping  of  a  great 
stone  into  a  deep,  quiet,  shady  pool.  He  has  never  talked 
much  to  me  about  religion,  and  still  less  to  other  people; 
what  I  know  of  his  religion  has  been  gathered  chiefly  from 
my  habit  of  putting  things  together  in  connections,  which 
sometimes  brings  true  \\<Ait  out  of  them — scd  satis. 


'&• 


After  the  election  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens  to  the  United 
States  Senatorship  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1865-66,  he- 
was  granted  permission  to  visit  the  federal  capital.  His  Fort 
Warren  parole  had  previously  restricted  the  theater  of  his 
movements  to  the  State  of  Georgia.  From  Washington 
City,  he  wrote  his  brother: 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  293 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Aprils,  1866. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  President 

received  me  with  frankness,  and  I  may  say  cordiality.  The 
cabinet  received  me  as  cordially  as  any  cabinet  ever  did. 
All  sides — Democrats  and  Republicans,  Conservatives  and 
Radicals — seemed  glad  to  see  me.  General  Grant  seems  to 
be  very  marked  in  his  regards  for  me.  He  is  a  most  extra- 
ordinary man  in  some  respects.  The  invitation  given  me 
to  spend  the  evening  with  him,  to  which  I  alluded  in  my 
other  letter,  I  did  not  understand  exactly  at  first.  It  was 
the  evening  of  one  of  his  receptions.  There  was  a  very 
large  company.  President  Johnson  was  there — the  first  in- 
stance of  a  President  of  the  United  States  ever  going  out 
into  society,  as  it  may  be  termed,  or  accepting  an  invitation 
to  join  a  party  of  friends  on  such  an  occasion  as  this.  I  was 
much  entertained  at  two  things  I  witnessed  there — or  rath- 
er, one  thing  and  two  reflections  on  it:  that  was  that  Gen- 
eral Grant  and  the  President  seemed  a  little  awkward,  or 
not  at  ease,  in  the  characters  they  were  acting.  They  both 
seemed  to  be  out  of  their  element.  This,  in  Grant,  I  was 
pleased  at ;  but  somehow  I  would  have  preferred  to  see  the 
President  more  graceful  and  elegant — or  rather,  more  at 
ease  in  his  manners.  Everything,  however,  passed  off  very 
well  and  very  agreeably.  There  was  a  perfect  jam  and  a 
great  array  of  fashion  and  court-style.  I  send  you  two  slips — 
one  from  the  Herald  and  one  from  the  Times  correspond- 
ents— giving  an  account  of  it.  The  longest  one  is  from  the 
Herald.  My  own  opinion  is  that  I  was  more  looked  at  than 
any  man  present,  and  more  talked  to,  though  I  did  en- 
deavor to  keep  in  the  back-ground.  Sir  Frederick  Bruce 
sought  an  introduction  to  me.  I  give  this  as  an  illustration 
of  the  state  of  things.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  fine  personal 
appearance,  and  talks  well.  I  declined  to  see  him  on  his 
visit  to  Fort  Warren.  Mr.  Burlingame  told  me  Sir  Freder- 
ick wished  to  see  me  when  he  \vas  there,  and  Major  Liver- 
more  said  if  I  would  signify  a  request  to  see  him,  under  his 
orders,  he  would  allow  it.  I  told  Mr.  Burlingame  that  it  might 
not  be  approved  at  Washington,  as  I  was  a  State-prisoner  and 
he  a  foreign  minister,  etc.,  and  no  such  interview  had  been 
anticipated  or  thought  of  when  he  had  been  permitted  to 


294  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

visit  the  fort,  or  when  I  had  been  permitted  to  sec  such 
friends  as  I  might  desire.  Sir  Frederick  alluded,  the  other 
night,  to  his  visit  to  Fort  Warren,  and  his  desire  then  to 
see  me,  etc.,  but  did  not  disclose  any  knowledge,  on  his 
part,  of  my  agency  in  his  not  succeeding. 

But  I  find  my  letter  becoming  too  long.  You  wish, 
doubtless,  to  know  what  I  think  of  things  here.  Well,  I 
think  of  them  just  about  as  I  did  before  I  got  here.  Noth- 
ing will  be  done  towards  the  admission  of  Southern  mem- 
bers this  session.  This  question  will  most  probably  be  de- 
cided by  the  next  fall  elections.  The  most  radical  men  in 
Congress — the  most  rabid — talk  with  me  heartily,  freely  and 
fully,  and  I  think  I  may  say,  almost  unanimously,  would 
prefer  to  see  me  in  the  Senate  to  any  other  man  from  the 
South — or,  at  least,  they  say  so.  So  my  election  has  cer- 
tainly clone  the  State  no  harm  in  this  particular.  The  point 
on  which  they  are  going  to  rally  is  a  proposition  to  amend 
the  Constitution  on  the  suffrage  question — to  allow  admis- 
sion to  those  States  which  will  agree  to  an  amendment  al- 
lowing representation  on  the  ratio  of  votes.  This  will  be,  I 
think,  the  Radical  platform  for  the  next  fall  elections,  and 
I  need  not  say  that  I  think  it  will  be  rather  a  dangerous 
platform  for  us  before  the  Northern  people.  How  easily 
this  might  have  been  avoided  by  the  Southern  people  in 
allowing  a  wisely-restricted  suffrage  to  the  black  race  in 
their  new  Constitutions!  This  proposition,  however,  ema- 
nates from  no  real  philanthropic  sentiment  for  the  negro. 
It  is,  when  sifted  to  the  bottom,  founded  upon  nothing  but 
a  desire  for  power.  It  is  not  believed  that  the  Southern 
States  will  grant  suffrage  under  it  to  the  black  race,  even  if 
it  should  be  adopted.  The  object  is  to  deprive  the  South 
of  political  power,  and  to  leave  the  poor,  unfortunate  sons 
of  Africa,  as  our  fellow-citizens,  to  their  fate. 

I  called  to  see  Senator  Wilson  yesterday.  This  was  in 
discharge  of  an  act  of  duty  for  his  personal  kindness  to  me 
while  in  prison.  He  introduced  Mrs.  Wilson  to  me  at  Gen- 
eral Grant's  party;  I,  therefore,  called  to  see  both  of  them. 
We  had  a  long,  pleasant  talk,  differing  widely  on  many 
points,  but  agreeably.  I  got  a  letter,  a  day  or  two  ago, 
from  Mrs.  S —  — .  She  is  in  Baltimore,  and  I  shall  go 
over  to  see  her  in  a  few  days.  She  will  continue  or  remain 
there  next,  or  rather  this  week.  I  shall  try  and  prevail  on 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  2Q5 

her  to  go  on  with  me  to  Georgia.  I  now  think  I  shall  start 
home  the  latter  part  of  the  week.  That,  though,  is  uncer- 
tain. Many  urge  me  to  remain  here,  and  if  I  see  any  pros- 
pect of  doing  good  by  it,  I  may  do  so ;  but,  really,  I  do 
not  now  see  that  I  can  do  more  good  than  I  shall  do  by  the 
latter  part  of  this  week.  By  that  time,  my  views  will  be 
very  generally  known.  The  loss  of  the  Civil  Rights  bill — 
or  rather,  the  passage  of  that  bill,  in  the  Senate,  over  the 
veto — might  have  been  prevented.  I  cannot  go  into  par- 
ticulars now — one  more  vote  would  have  sustained  the  veto. 
The  vote  stood  33  to  15 — 48  voting.  The  whole  Senate 
now  is  50;  but  Stockton  having  been  turned  out  leaves  a 
full  Senate — 49.  Dixon,  of  Connecticut,  was  sick  in  his 
room,  and  would  have  voted,  making  the  vote  33  to  16. 
That  would  have  sustained  the  veto,  under  the  understand- 
ing of  the  Senate.  By  that  understanding,  it  required  17 
votes  when  the  whole  vote  was  49 ;  but  I  think  differently. 
If  Dixon  had  voted,  as  he  would  have  done  if  he  had 
thought  that  his  vote  would  have  prevented  the  passage  of 
the  bill,  the  vote  would  have  stood,  33  yeas  to  16  nays, 
making  49  in  all;  33  is  not  two-thirds  of  49.  The  general 
opinion  was  that  it  would  take  17  votes  to  sustain  the  veto, 
and  he  did  not  go  to  the  Senate.  But  I  think  16  would 
have  done  it.  The  bill,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  pass  the 
House.  I  don't  attach  any  great  importance  to  this  meas- 
ure. It  will  not  affect  Georgia,  I  think,  or  any  other  State 
that  has  done  as  she  has.  1  have  not  read  the  bill  care- 
fully;  but  this  is  my  understanding  of  it:  the  great  error  of 
the  bill  is  the  principle  assumed  in  its  passage,  the  jurisdic- 
tion claimed  by  Congress,  etc 

To  his  intimate  friend,  Samuel  Barnett,  Judge  Stephens 
writes,  May  25,  1866: 

[From  L.  S.  to  Samuel  Barnett,  Esq.] 

DEAR  SAM — You  are,  of  course,  aware  of  what  decision 
Judge  Reese  has  made  in  our  insurance  case.  Mr.  Hull 
acquiesces  in  it,  and  has  sent  me  the  money — three  thou- 
sand and  sixty  dollars — which  I  have  paid  over  to  Mrs. 
Stanford,  reserving  five  hundred  as  counsel-fees.  Is  this 
enough?  I  am  sure  it  is  not  too  much;  and  yet,  I  felt 


296  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

equally  sure  that,  in  taking  a  fee  from  a  poor  widow,  you 
would  trust  our  joint  interest  to  my  sense  of  proper  charity. 
That  is  really  my  only  apology  for  not  consulting  you  be- 
fore fixing  the  fee.  In  a  similar  case,  I  should  expect  you 
to  do  just  as  I  have  done.  The  money  was  in  hand  and 
the  woman  wanted  it — not  only  desired  it,  but  needed  it. 
If  you  had  been  at  hand,  I  certainly  should  have  consulted 
you  before  paying  it  over,  and  fixing  our  fees;  but  as  you 
were  not  present,  and  sometime  required  to  hear  from  you, 
why,  I  just  did  as  I  would  have  you  do  in  such  a  case — I 
acted  for  both  of  us;  and,  as  I  have  begun  to  play  dictator, 
I  believe  I  will  run  the  part  through,  and  tell  you  that  your 
half  of  it  is  in  my  hands,  subject  to  your  order.  What  shall 
I  do  with  it?  We  are  all  well  as  usual,  and  I  hope  you  and 
yours  are  so,  too.  I  saw  your  two  boys,  the  other  day,  out 
at  Dick's  school.  The  eldest  is  a  very  close  copy  of  you. 
I  was  pleased  to  make  their  acquaintance,  and  pleased  at 
the  air  with  which  they  greeted  me.  It  plainly  told  that 
they  knew  they  were  grasping  the  hand  of  their  father's 
friend,  and  that  they  had  no  doubt  of  a  cordial  reception 
for  his  sake. 

Most  truly  yours, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

P.  S. — Did  I  tell  you  I  had  found  Underwood's  answer? 
I  am  awfully  afraid  we  shall  never  get  any  fee  in  that  case 
beyond  the  tobacco  which  I  have  already  got  out  of  him. 
You  don't  smoke?  Well,  then,  you  will  get  no  "half"  in 
this  business.  L.  S. 

The  next  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  not  only  discloses 
his  method  of  reading  an  author,  but  illustrates  a  prominent 
feature  of  his  intellectual  character: 

[From  L.  S.  to  a  female  friend.] 

JUNE  6,  1866. 

You  say  you  know  I  love  study ; 

and  so  I  do  in  my  own  way  ;  but  I  have  a  horror  of  details 
and  minutiae.  I  love  to  group  facts  into  large  generaliza- 
tions, but  the  plodding  after  small  facts,  which  have  no  sig- 
nificance, save  in  the  brains  of  heated  enthusiasts,  is,  irk- 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  297 

some  and  impossible  to  me  beyond  conception.  I  scarcely 
ever  read  any  book  entire,  except  those  I  read  purely  for 
entertainment.  When  I  am  studying  to  master  a  subject, 
I  wouldn't  read  all  that  any  one  man  in  the  world  ever 
wrote  on  it,  if  he  wrote  much.  When  I  am  studying,  I  am 
a  terrible  fellow  to  skip  pages,  and  often  chapters.  I  want, 
first,  the  grand  outlines,  and  then  I  will  call  for  such  fillings 
up  as  I  need ;  and  a  great  deal  of  the  filling  up,  which  is 
almost  always  considered  essential  by  those  who  write 
books,  I  never  do  heed,  and,  therefore,  cannot  very  pa- 
tiently tolerate 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

JULY,  1866. 

DEAR  BROTHER — We  got  home  yesterday,  before  sunset, 
all  right.  As  we  were  entering  the  yard-gate,  I  remarked 
to  Becky,  who  was  in  the  buggy  with  me,  that  it  seemed 
that  she  and  her  little  sisters  ought  to  be  running  to  meet 
me,  and  that  a  return  home  without  a  welcome  or  joyous 
greeting  from  somebody  or  other  was  a  sad  thing.  Little 
did  I  then  know  how  complete  the  lack  of  a  welcome  would 
be  when  we  drove  up  in  front  of  the  door.  Cosby  was  sit- 
ting on  the  colonnade,  reading  Shakspeare.  The  little 
ones  cried  out,  "How  d'ye,  Mr.  Conncl?"  before  they  got 
out  of  the  carriage,  and  then  hurried  to  shake  hands  with 
him.  He  slowly  laid  aside  his  book  and  spectacles,  and 
gave  them  a  very  hearty  greeting.  He  and  they  were  soon 
deeply  immersed  in  the  exchange  of  news,  and  he  gave  no 
indication  of  being  at  all  aware  of  my  being  out  in  the  yard. 
None  of  the  servants  came  to  meet  us.  As  Henry  was 
with  us  to  take  the  horses,  my  thoughts  turned  on  Pompey, 
whose  habit  was  to  rarely  fail  in  giving  his  welcome  on  my 
return  home,  and  my  eye  went  in  search  of  him,  but  found 
him  not.  I  felt  uneasy,  but  said  not  a  word  to  anybody. 
Presently,  the  little  ones,  who  got  the  news  from  Cosby, 
came  running  out,  and  told  me  that  Pompey  was  dead.  I 
almost  reeled,  as  if  somebody  had  struck  me  a  blow.  Poor 
old  Pompey,  then,  would  never  welcome  me  any  more! 
Dead  !  and  buried  out  of  my  sight  forever !  The  first  thought 
was  for  the  poor  old  dog  himself — the  next  for  myself;  the 
realization  of  how  rapidly  the  things  which  love  me  were 
passing  away  shot  through  my  heart  with  a  keen  and  sud- 
29 


298  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

den  pang !  There  are  very  few  people  in  this  world  who 
would  believe  how  much  I  was  affected  by  the  fate  of  a  dog — 
a  mere  dog — nothing  but  a  dog!  He  was,  nevertheless,  a 
great  deal  to  me.  I  do  almost  mourn  and  grieve  for  the 

poor  old  fellow ! I  never  was 

so  much  affected  by  any  death  outside  of  my  own  race — 
not  even  in  the  warm  and  tender-hearted  days  of  my  child- 
hood. My  poor  old  dog !  my  poor  old  dog !  If  he  was  a 
spirit  still  existing,  and  cognizant  of  the  scene  from  which 
his  body  has  departed,  he  feels  to-day  a  grateful  pleasure 
in  the  tears  which  his  beloved  master  is  shedding  over  his 
grave.  I  could  have  better  spared  many  more  valuable 
thingfs.* 


[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  July  24,  1866. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  am  now  read- 
ing Napoleon's  "Julius  Caesar."  The  book  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent one  from  what  I  expected.  It  is  in  two  volumes. 
The  first  one  I  have  not  quite  got  through  with  yet.  It  is 
taken  up  with  an  epitome  of  the  History  of  Rome  up  to  the 
time  of  Caesar's  figuring  in  it.  I  like  it  very  much.  It  is 
connected  and  clear,  and,  above  all,  what  is  agreeable  to 
me,  it  gives  the  dates,  as  it  goes  along,  from  the  founding 
of  the  city.  It  exhibits  more  learning  than  I  should  have 
supposed  Napoleon  to  possess ;  the  citation  of  authorities 
is  more  numerous  than  in  any  history  I  ever  read,  and  a 
good  portion  of  the  pages  is  filled  in  this  way.  The  paper 
upon  which  it  is  published  is  thick  and  heavy,  making  the 
volumes  cumbrous  and  inconvenient  to  handle ;  besides,  the 
leaves  are  not  cut,  which  annoys  me  some;  but,  upon  the 


*  Judge  Stephens  had  a  peculiar  fondness  for  dogs  and  for  horses.  No 
one  could  be  more  kind  to  them,  or  more  considerate  of  their  comfort. 
He  loved  to  feed  them  from  hi.s  own  hand,  and  took  delight  in  seeing  them 
eat.  He  prepared  for  the  historic  dog,  A'ic,  *o  long  the  pet  of  "Liberty 
Hall,"  this  epitaph  : 

Rio: 

"  Here  rest  the  Remains 

Of  what,  in  Life,  was  a  Satire  on  the  Human  Race, 

And  an  Honor  to  his  own — 

A  Faithful  DOG." 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  2QC) 

whole,  I  am  tolerably  well  pleased.  I  suppose  the  cream 
of  the  work  is  in  the  last,  or  second  volume.  He  has  this 
philosophy — that  men  first  make,  or  found,  or  form,  insti- 
tutions, and  then  these  institutions  form,  or  mold,  the  char- 
acters of  men.  These,  in  their  time,  react  on  the  institu- 
tions, etc.  He  is  a  man  of  ideas.  I  see,  clearly,  that  he 
is  about  to  make  Caesar  the  great  man  of  Rome.  He  was 
the  advocate  of  popular  rights  against  the  incroachments  of 
an  insolent,  corrupt  aristocracy.  I  always  had  kindness  of 
feeling  towards  Caesar  until  I  read  Cicero  last  summer. 
Whether  Napoleon  will  win  back  my  generous  sympathy 
for  him,  I  don't  know  yet.  I  got  my  first  ideas  of  Caesar 
from  Dr.  Foster.* 

[  From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  July  25,  1866. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  am  still  on 

"Julius  Caesar."  I  need  hardly  say,  I  suppose,  that  Na- 
poleon is  winning  back,  in  some  degree,  my  old  regard  for 
the  great  man 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  July  31,  1866. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  got  nothing  from  you  this  morning. 
I  am  anxious  to  hear  from  you  about  the  convention, 
whether  you  will  go  or  not.  I  see  that  the  great  Ocean 
Telegraph  has  succeeded  at  last.  America  and  Europe  are 
put  in  immediate  communication  through  the  wonderful 
and  mysterious  agency  of  magnetic  electricity !  What  next? 
I  have  got  through  with  the  second  volume  of  "Julius  Cae- 
sar," by  Napoleon,  but  was  sadly  disappointed  at  the  end. 
It  closed  with  the  crossing  of  the  Rubicon  by  Caesar,  the 
beginning  of  the  civil  war.  I  had  expected  the  volume  to 


*  The  Dr.  Foster  alluded  to  was  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  Foster,  of  Walker 
county.  He  was  a  bold,  original  thinker,  and  a  gentleman  of  learning 
and  culture.  To  him,  as  much  as  to  any  one  else,  is  the  State  indebted 
for  the  construction  of  the  Western  &  Atlantic  Railroad.  Mr.  Stephens' 
speech  carried  the  measure  in  the  Legislature.  Dr.  Foster  supplied  him 
with  much  of  his  data,  both  of  fact  and  argument. 


3OO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

finish  a  full  history  of  his  whole  life,  closing  with  the  Et  ///, 
Brute!  which,  in  the  fore  part  of  the  work,  Napoleon  says 
were  his  last  words.  He  says  that  Caesar  spoke  and  wrote 
Greek  nearly  as  well  as  he  did  Latin.  Of  course,  there  is 
to  be  another  volume — perhaps  more,  I  don't  know.  Na- 
poleon is  a  great  man  himself.  In  drawing  the  character 
of  Caesar,  he  is  evidently  drawing  the  character  of  one  whom 
he  would  like  to  be  considered  himself.  The  book  shows 
mind  of  a  high  order,  and  sentiments  which  ought  to  do 
honor  to  any  rational  mind.  Some  points  are  cleared  up 
in  this  book  which  were  always  unexplained  to  me:  one  is, 
What  was  the  exact  point  of  difference  between  Cresar  and 
the  Senate,  which  led  to  civil  war?  I  can  but  think,  with 
Dr.  Foster,  that  Caesar  was  not  so  nntcJi  to  blame  for  the 
sad  results  as  others.  His  enemies,  at  first,  passed  a  reso- 
lution in  the  Senate  that  he  should  disband  his  army.  This 
he  had  before  said  he  would  do  if  Pompey  would  do  the 
same.  The  time  was  not  out  for  which  they  both  held 
their  commissions;  his  lacked  a  year  or  more.  After  the 
Senate  passed  the  resolution  ordering  him  to  disband  his 
army,  very  much  to  the  surprise  of  Marcellus,  the  Consul 
at  the  time,  who  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  matter,  Cicero 
offered  a  resolution  that  Pompey  also  disband  his  army,  and 
this  resolution  likewise  passed  by  over  two  hundred  ma- 
jority, lint  Marcellus  would  not  obey  the  last  resolution. 
He  and  others  (a  few)  declared  the  commonwealth  in  dan- 
ger; and,  without  any  legal  authority,  called  upon  Pompey 
to  protect  Rome — to  levy  troops,  etc.  Pompey  consented, 
and  assumed  the  powers  thus  usurped.  Upon  this  news 
reaching  Gesar,  he  crossed  the  Rubicon.  The  reason  of 
the  opposition  to  Gesar  in  the  Senate  was  his  known  hos- 
tility to  the  Aristocratic  party  and  their  policy,  which  had 
been  carried  out  by  Sylla.  He  was  the  representative  man 
of  the  people  of  that  party;  while  the  Gracchi  and  Marius 
were  the  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party.  Gusar, 
on  the  paternal  line,  had  descended  from  plebeian  stock. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  addressed  to  a  female 
friend  evince  a  strong  and  beautiful  religious  element  of  his 
nature — never  ostentatiously  displayed,  but  always  felt,  and 
on  befitting  occasions  acknowledged: 


JUDGE  LINTON  STEPHENS.  3OI 

JUNE  3,  1867. 

There  is  not,  in  all  the  beauty 

of  the  plan  for  man's  salvation,  a  more  beautiful  picture  than 
the  provision  of  a  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek. 
"Touched  with  a  sense  of  our  infirmities,"  His  sympathy, 
His  suffering  with  and  for  those  He  came  to  save,  His  very 
suffering  is,  in  a  certain  limited  sense,  incompatible  with  a 
totality  of  perfection.  The  hitman  nature,  touched  with  a 
sense  of  our  infirmities,  partaking,  not  at  all  of  our  sin,  but 
still  in  our  ivcafaicss,  is  the  very  thing  which  renders  Him  a 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  which  brings  the  Son  into 
the  closest  and  sweetest  relations  with  the  hearts  of  men. 


[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

JANUARY  6,  1 867. 

The  very  same  sentiment 

has  different  phases,  and  finds  vent  in  different  expressions, 
without  suffering  any  change  of  nature  or  force.  God  is 
above  all  change  in  Himself,  and  yet  He  is  ever  presenting 
Himself  to  His  creatures  in  endless  changes  of  manifesta- 
tion and  expression — the  necessary  result  of  His  fullness 
and  infinitude  of  glory.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  a  com- 
parison; I  only  mean  to  illustrate,  by  the  highest  example, 
an  idea  which  struck  me  as  likely  to  need  illustration.  Spec- 
ulations concerning  the  Divine  character  (I  know  no  better 
word)  are  always  dangerous  ground,  and  should  be  cau- 
tiously and  reverently  restrained  within  proper  limits ;  but 
there  are  limits,  after  all,  within  which  our  conceptions  of 
God  are  not  speculations  at  all,  but  knon'lcdgc — more  cer- 
tain, by  far,  than  that  which  we  can  possibly  have  of  any 
other  being  in  the  universe.  To  dwell  on  his  known  attri- 
butes and  character,  and  from  these,  as  our  starting  point, 
to  learn  the  Unknown — so  far  as  poor  human  reason  can 
draw  sure  conclusions  from  sure  premises — is  not  irrever- 
ence, but  the  study  of  the  profoundest  wisdom,  reverence, 
fear,  love,  and  worship.  My  thoughts  turn,  very  often, 
upon  the  contemplation  and  reverent  study  of  the  Supreme 
Intelligence  which  fashioned  the  universe,  and  filled  it  with 
beauty  ;  and  of  the  Infinite  love  which  provided  redemption 
for  man,  who  had  fallen  from  the  high  estate  of  his  creation. 


3O2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

I  am  prone — perhaps  too  prone — to  draw  from  that  high 
and  holy  source  illustrations  for  even  the  tritest  ideas  of 
every-day  life.  What,  after  all,  is  religion  but  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  applied  to  all  the  affairs  of  life?  The  knowl- 
edge involves  and  carries  with  it  the  love  and  adoration  ; 
and  the  deepest  knowledge  brings  love  and  adoration  of  the 
highest  type 

After  the  lapse  of  twenty-nine  years,  he  thus  recalls  a 
half-dreamy  rcvery  of  his  orphaned  childhood: 

[  From  same  to  same.  ] 

MAY  8,  1867. 

This  is  a  bright  and  beautiful  morning — a  bright  and 
beautiful  morning  in  May;  a  bright  and  beautiful  morning, 
bursting  upon  my  little  sense  with  a  brilliance  which  is  a 
glorious  contrast  with  the  clouds,  and  rain,  and  gloom  of 
yesterday  and  the  day  before.  Yes,  the  morning  is  bright 
and  beautiful,  but  it  is  cool — quite  cool.  We  have  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  frost.  The  green  glories,  which  are  so 
radiant  with  life  and  sunlight,  have  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  death  and  darkness.  But  they  have  escaped ;  and  if 
they  had  human  thoughts  and  feelings,  they  might  now  be 
rejoicing  in  the  new  joy  of  a  great  peril  safely  passed.  I 
remember,  there  was  a  frost  just  twenty-nine  years  ago  this 
very  day — the  8th  of  May,  1838.  Ah!  how  far  back  my 
memory  runs  !  How  well  I  remember  that  clay,  twenty- 
nine  years  ago !  I  was  a  little  school-boy  then,  boarding 
in  the  country,  and  walking  to  the  village  school,  a  distance 
of  two  miles.  That  morning,  I  mastered  a  lesson  before 
breakfast,  sitting  in  a  .v:t7>/<r  that  hung  out  in  the  large, 
white,  sanely,  shady  yard — sitting,  swinging  to  and  fro,  with 
a  slight,  gentle  motion,  and  conning  my  lesson,  yet  listen- 
ing all  the  while  to  the  low,  soft  music  of  the  young  poul- 
try crying  for  their  morning  meal.  I  was  a  little  dreamer, 
even  then  ;  strangely  enough,  too — strangely  for  so  young 
a  dreamer,  my  thoughts  turned  to  the  past,  not  the  future. 
The  lesson  finished,  the  book  was  laid  in  my  lap,  my  arms 
were  clasped  around  the  poles  which  formed  the  swing,  one 
foot  keeping  up  the  gentle  swaying  motion,  by  a  regular, 
recurring,  mechanical,  and  almost  unconscious  touch  upon 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  30$ 

the  ground ;  my  head  drooped  upon  my  breast,  and  thought 
floated  upon  the  sweet,  plaintive  sounds  around  me,  away 
to  the  spot  where  reposed  the  ashes  of  my  loved  but  wirc- 
mfmbered  dead.  I  was  in  the  past,  and  yet  not  in  the  land 
of  memory.  Imagination  was  picturing  out  the  scenes  of  the 
old  homestead,  as  best  it  could  from  the  treasured  materials 
of  imperfect  tradition.  There  was  the  log-house  in  which  I 
was  born,  the  garden,  the  orchard,  the  immense  wild  grape- 
vine, amid  the  great  rocks,  at  a  little  distance ;  and  the 
spring — the  glorious  spring,  bursting  from  a  rock  under  a 
great  bluff,  and  dashing  and  dancing  down  the  valley  in  a 
bright  stream,  that  sang  as  merrily  as  it  danced.  And  I 
strayed  back  up  the  hill  again,  in  search  of  the  living  forms 
that  moved  amid  the  scene.  Father,  brothers,  and  sisters 
rose  up  before  my  eager  eyes,  but  my  deepest  interest  was 
centered  in  the  tall  form  of  a  tcojuan,  still  young  and  hand- 
some, moving  with  a  sedate  grace,  which  bespoke  the  very 
sweetness  of  dignity,  and  selecting  for  her  walk  the  very 
sweetest  spots,  with  an  unerring  instinct,  that  told  of  a  heart 
at  once  deeply  loving  and  deeply  halloived.  She  seemed 
to  cast  bright  and  hopeful  glances  towards  the  "new  house" 
rising  unfinished  from  a  clump  of  trees  on  the  brow  of  a  gen- 
tle slope.  She  had  laid  away  some  of  her  darlings  among 
the  cedars  in  the  garden  ;  but  she  was  now  beginning  to 
emerge  from  the  darker  shades  of  poverty,  and  was  about 
to  secure  a  better  house,  a  sweeter  home,  for  the  dear  ones 
who  were  left  to  her  love.  But,  ah  !  the  "new  house "  was 
destined  to  remain  unfinished  forever!  The  cedars  in  the 
garden !  The  lovely  form  pointed  me  to  the  cedars  in  the 
garden,  and  then  faded  from  my  view.  I  followed  her  point- 
ing, and  stood  solitary  and  desolate  among  the  cedars  in 
the  garden !  Amid  their  deep,  dark  shade  was  a  grave — 
her  grave,  already  grass-grown  from  age !  Lilies — sweet, 
white  lilies — were  bending  over  it,  and  dropping  their  fra- 
grance upon  the  sacred  dust.  The  boy  in  the  swing  uttered 
a  low,  deep  moan,  and  burst  into  tears — tears  of  intense 
yearning  for  the  unknown  blessing  of  a  mother's  love !  .  . 


In  May,  1865,  Mr.  A.  H.Stephens,  ex- Vice-President  of 
the  Confederate  States,  was  arrested  at  his  home  by  a  de- 


304  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

tachmcnt  of  United  States  soldiers.  He  was  carried  to 
Boston  harbor,  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Warren.  After 
months  of  confinement,  friends  from  the  South,  and  else- 
where, were  permitted  to  visit  him.  This  was  accomplished 
mainly  through  the  personal  and  persistent  exertions  of  the 
late  Henry  Wilson,  afterwards  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  by  his  efforts,  too,  that  Mr.  Stephens  was 
granted  more  comfortable  quarters,  after  weeks  of  exposure 
and  suffering  in  a  damp,  unwholesome  dungeon.  As  soon 
as  intelligence  reached  Judge  Stephens  that  he  would  be 
allowed  to  see  his  brother,  he  left  his  business,  his  home, 
his  children,  to  visit  and  stay  with  the  captive — thus  vol- 
untarily accepting  the  privations  of  prison-life,  and  sharing 
with  him  the  hardships  of  a  common  cell.  It  is  a  noble 
exemplification  of  unselfish  devotion,  recalling  and  excel- 
ling the  beautiful,  fraternal  affection  which  makes  the  fame 
of  the  Cicero  brothers  "  w/a'/er  than  it  is  brilliant."  The 
incident  proved  to  be  one  of  the  fortunate  felicities  in  the 
life  of  Judge  Stephens — a  "blessing  in  disguise."  Among 
the  almost  daily  visitors  to  Fort  Warren,  after  permission 
granted,  were  Dr.  Salter  and  family.  They  were  residents 
of  Boston.  Of  the  members  of  the  family,  was  one  whom 
Judge  Stephens  had  met  five  years  before,  in  Washington 
City — a  bright  and  beautiful  girl,  then  not  past  her  teens. 
Memories,  doubtless,  of  those  earlier  and  better  days  were 
revived ;  a  mutual  attachment  sprang  up  between  them  ;  it 
ripened  into  a  warmer  passion,  and  she — Mary  W.  Salter — 
became  his  wife  in  June,  1867.  This  excellent  lady  is  still 
in  life — scrtts  in.  ca'luui  irdcat ;  but  still,  it  is  hardly  doing 
violence  to  this  necrological  office  to  record,  that,  in  all  re- 
spects, she  was  to  him  a  help-meet  indeed,  and  that  the  tes- 
timonials he  has  left  of  her  worth  and  her  virtues,  and  of 
his  high  appreciation  of  her  in  the  relations  of  wife  and 
mother,  shed  an  aromatic  redolence  around  their  wedded 
life.  I  well  remember  the  last  time  I  saw  Judge  Stephens. 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  3O$ 

It  was  the  afternoon  he  left  Atlanta — to  return  no  more — 
in  the  first  days  of  July,  1872.  He  had  been  engaged  by 
the  Governor,  as  counsel  in  behalf  of  the  State,  to  assist  in 
investigating  the  alleged  frauds  of  the  preceding  State  ad- 
ministration ;  and  some  weeks  had  been  occupied  in  making 
the  investigation.  We  took  a  long  walk  together.  The 
thought  of  going  home  was  uppermost  in  his  mind,  and  the 
pleasure  it  gave  him  lit  up  his  features  with  an  unwonted 
glow  of  sunshine  and  joy.  He  spoke  of  the  sweet  attrac- 
tions of  his  home;  of  his  wife  and  children,  so  affection- 
ately and  so  fondly ;  and  then — a  tear  standing  in  his  large, 
deep-set,  blue  eye — he  said,  "How  I  wish  I  were  through 
with  this  business !  I  would  not  give  one  day  at  home  for 
a  lifetime  of  the  toil  and  turmoil  of  public  or  professional 
life."  His  manner  lent  emphasis  to  the  words,  and  deep- 
ened the  impression  they  made. 

[  From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

PHILADELPHIA,  415  NORTH  FOURTH  STREET, 
February  13,  1868. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Your  two  letters,  or  rather,  coverings, 
with  contents,  of  the  /th  instant,  were  received  last  night. 
I  regret  very  much  indeed  the  fatality,  or  bad  luck,  which 
caused  the  delay  of  my  letter  to  you,  inclosing  the  intro- 
duction. Your  suggestions  have  produced  a  very  deep  im- 
pression upon  me.  The  impression  is  not  unlike  that  which 
I  supposed  was  produced  upon  Myers,  the  painter,  by  a 
view  of  Healy's  picture,  according  to  the  account  you  gave 
me  of  it.  I  was  myself  very  much  pleased  with  the  intro- 
duction— indeed,  better  pleased  with  it  than  with  any  part 
of  the  work ;  but  when  I  read  your  remarks  upon  it,  and 
saw  your  suggestions  for  improvement,  I  changed  my  mind 
about  the  whole  concern.  I  became  disgusted,  not  only 
with  the  introduction,  but  with  the  whole  work.  If  matters 
had  not  gone  so  far,  I  should  have  pitched  the  whole  into 
the  fire  and  retired  to  my  den,  there  to  live  out  my  days, 
few  or  many,  in  perfect  seclusion. 

I  am  now  fully  convinced  that  writing  is  not  my  forte. 


3O6  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

The  truth  is,  I  have  no  forte.  I  am  fit  for  nothing,  and 
ought  never  to  have  attempted  to  do  what  nature  never  de- 
signed me  to  do.  Had  I  got  your  letter  a  few  days  ago, 
the  introduction  would  have  been  thoroughly  remodeled. 
But  it  is  now  all  over  the  country — in  the  mails  and  in  the 
hands  of  the  newspaper  men  in  this  city,  and  all  the  lead- 
ing presses  in  New  York  and  Boston,  to  appear  simultane- 
ously to-morrow  morning — so  Mr.  Jones  informs  me.  It 
is  too  late  to  touch  it  now,  before  its  full  appearance  before 
the  public.  The  first  impression  will  be  that  which  will 
ever  accompany  it.  For  the  book,  I  might  do  with  it  as 
Foster's  boy  proposed  to  his  father  to  do  with  the  beef- 
throw  it  away,  and  try  my  hand  upon  another;  but  that 
would  do  no  essential  good.  I  now  feel  about  the  whole 
book — the  whole  undertaking — as  John  Dyson  did  when 
his  rusticity  and  ill-breeding  exposed  him  to  the  laugh  of 
genteel  company — "/  wish  I  was  to  home ;  "  but  when  I 

shall  get  there,  I  do  not  know I  have 

lost  all  interest  I  had  to  see  the  book  out:  I  now  feel  as  if 
it  would  be  a  fortunate  thing  for  me  and  my  reputation, 
that  something  should  occur  to  arrest  its  further  progress, 
and  prevent  its  ever  seeing  the  light.  I  hardly  think  I  can 
be  at  our  Taliaferro  court. 

If  you  can  go  over  there,  I  wish  you  would;  and  if  you 
can  be  at  Columbia  court,  I  wish  you  would  attend  to  a  case 
in  equity  in  that  court  for  me ;  my  client  is  Crawford,  a  brother 
to  George  W.  ;  Charles,  I  believe,  his  name  is.  If  you  can- 
not go  conveniently,  it  will  make  no  great  difference — I  shall 
write  to  Shockley,  and  ask  him  to  continue  it ;  but  I  should 
like  for  you  to  go,  if  you  can,  without  inconvenience.  I 
don't  know  if  you  have  any  court  to  attend  that  week:  it 
is  the  first  Monday  in  March,  I  believe.  My  love  to  all. 
Yours,  most  affectionately, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 


The  book  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  letter  is  "The  His- 
tory of  the  War  between  the  States."  How  well  founded 
Mr.  Stephens'  misgivings  were  as  to  its  merits  and  popu- 
larity, may  be  judged  of  by  the  fact  that  his  receipts  from 
sales  amounted  to  the  sum  of  forty  thousand  dollars. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  307 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 
SPRINGFIELD,  MASS.,  February  25,  1868. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  see  the  House 

has  passed  a  resolution,  directing  articles  of  impeachment  to 
be  brought  in  against  the  President :  this  I  have  been  look- 
ing for  for  sometime.  The  President's  letter  to  the  Senate, 
in  answer  to  their  resolution  on  the  subject,  is  an  able  pa- 
per, and  will  forever  justify  his  acts  in  the  minds  of  rightly- 
thinking  men,  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  impeach- 
ment question.  I  have  said  nothing  to  you  on  politics, 
lately — nothing  since  I  left  home.  The  reason  has  been,  I 
take  very  little  interest  in  the  subject.  I  feel  like  a  passen- 
ger who  has  no  control  in  the  direction  of  the  ship  ;  and 
hence,  it  is  just  as  well  to  be  silent,  and  not  busy  myself 
about  matters  over  which  I  cannot  exercise  any  control,  and 
not  to  permit  myself  to  vex  my  mind,  or  think  about  pub- 
lic affairs 

Judge  Stephens  felt  the  most  anxious  solicitude  in  the  re- 
sult of  the  Presidential  election  of  1868  ;  but  he  took  no  ac- 
tive part  in  the  contest.  The  ashes  left  by  the  fires  of  the 
sectional  war  were  yet  too  warm  to  be  stirred.  The  ex- 
pression of  any  choice  for  the  presidency,  by  any  Southern 
leader  who  had  been  prominently  identified  with  the  for- 
tunes of  his  section,  in  the  struggle,  would,  he  believed, 
hurt,  rather  than  help,  the  cause  he  had  at  heart;  and  there- 
fore, conforming  his  conduct  to  the  principle  of  the  mathe- 
matical axiom,  ' '  the  addition  of  a  negative  quantity  is  equiv- 
alent to  the  subtraction  of  a  positive  one,"  he  held  himself 
aloof  from  active  participation  in  the  contest. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

— ,  June  i,  1868. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  just  writ- 
ten to  her  in  relation,  or  in  answer,  to  what  she  asks  about 
Judge  Chase,  that,  in  my  opinion,  Pendleton  is  the  man  for 
the  Democratic  party  to  nominate.  In  my  opinion,  he  is 
the  strongest  man  that  can  be  nominated,  and,  upon  the 


3O8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

whole,  is  the  best,  all  things  considered.  I  stated  that  I 
would  be  willing  to  take  Hancock,  Thomas  Seymour,  Gov- 
ernor Parker,  or  Adams,  or  any  one  that  the  Democracy 
may  likely  nominate,  not  excepting  Judge  Chase.  In  the 
present  state  of  things,  if  the  Democracy  should  nominate 
him,  he  would  be  preferred  by  the  South  as  a  choice  of 
evils.  This  I  gave  as  my  own  opinion  ;  but  I  stated  that  I 
did  not  think  that  the  Western  Democracy  would  nominate 
Chase.  I  stated  that  I  thought  that  Hancock  and  Adams 
would  make  a  ticket  that  would  take  well  in  Georgia.  But 
can  Hancock  run  well  in  the  West?  I  added,  wouldn't  his 
compulsory  connection  with  Mrs.  Surratt's  condemnation 
lose  him  many  votes  at  the  West?  The  letter,  I  told  her, 
was  for  herself  only,  but  I  concluded  by  saying  that,  in  my 
opinion,  Pendleton  was,  or  ought  to  be,  the  man 

[  L.  S.  to  Hon.  Iverson  L.  Harris.] 

SPARTA,  July  21,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  JUDGE — Great  is  my  regret  that  I  cannot  be  at 
home  when  you  propose  to  spend  the  day  with  me  on  your 
way  to  commencement.  I  start,  to-morrow  morning,  for 
the  Virginia  Springs  ;  and  the  state  of  my  health  requires 
that  there  should  be  no  failure  in  the  trip.  I  do  not  expect 
to  return  before  the  middle  of  September.  I  hope  you 
will  avail  yourself  of  some  other  early  occasion  to  make  me 
a  visit.  By  the  way,  why  don't  you  come  to  our  courts? 
Come  to  our  next,  and  spend  your  time  with  me ;  and  let 
me  know  beforehand  whether  you  will  come  or  not. 

I  have  long  intended  to  tell  you  how  much  I  admire  your 
dissenting  opinion  in  the  case  where  the  majority  of  the 
court  decided  against  the  validity  of  a  contract  for  a  substi- 
tute in  the  Confederate  armies.  Your  opinion,  for  the  lu- 
minous, philosophical,  and  sound  views  which  it  presents 
on  a  subject  of  profound  interest  to  mankind,  is  entitled  to 
immortality.  If  I  were  not  very  busy  in  preparing  to  leave 
home,  I  would  go  into  particulars.  As  it  is,  I  must  content 
myself  with  the  general  expression,  which  means  all  it  says, 
Most  truly,  your  friend, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

A  proposition  was  made  that  Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens  should 
move  his  residence  from  Crawfordvillc  to  Sparta,  and  that 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  309 

the  brothers  should  form  a  copartnership  in  the  practice  of 
law.  The  letter  following  relates  to  that  subject.  They 
had  never  been  of  counsel  on  opposing  sides.  If  the  pro- 
position of  partnership  was  ever  seriously  entertained,  the 
consummation  of  it  was  frustrated  by  the  terrible  mishap 
which  befell  the  elder  brother  in  February,  1869,  and  from 
the  physical  effects  of  which  he  never  sufficiently  recovered, 
during  Linton's  lifetime,  to  be  able  to  leave  his  home. 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  Novembers,  1868. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  fully 

reciprocate  your  feelings  and  wishes  as  to  our  being  together, 
as  much  as  possible,  during  the  remnant  of  my  days,  or  our 
joint  lives.  I  am  the  more  and  more,  every  day,  impressed 
with  the  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  great  uncertainty  of 
human  affairs,  and  especially  of  the  uncertainty  of  human 
life.  I  know  I  am  approaching  that  period  at  which,  or 
beyond  which,  a  few  years,  at  best,  can  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected. This  thought,  or  reflection,  however,  does  not 
bring  with  it  any  feelings  of  regret  or  sadness  ;  it  only  more 
fully  awakens  a  desire  to  have  all  things  in  order,  and  to  be 
ready  to  depart  when  the  time  comes;  and  also  quickens  a 
wish,  while  I  am  here,  to  enjoy,  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
as  fully  as  possible,  those  pleasures  which  contribute  what 
of  happiness  is  allowed  to  this  form  of  existence.  To  me, 
amongst  those,  none  are  greater  than  such  as  spring  from 
association  and  communion  with  you,  especially  when  we 
are  entirely  to  ourselves.  I  have  often  thought  of  the  many, 
many  associations  of  this  sort — such  as  our  travels  to  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  in  1847,  as  well  as  our  repeated 
travels  to  Washington  and  other  places,  to  say  nothing  of 
our  short  drives  from  here  to  Sparta,  and  from  court  to 
court 

[From  A.  II .  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  December  31,  1868. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  never  heard  the 

inquiry  made  before  about  the  origin  of  ism,  in  our  Ian- 


3IO  BTOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

guage.  I  have  thought  about  it  since,  and  have  solved  the 
puzzle  quite  satisfactorily  to  myself.  I  think  it  is  a  sort  of 
contraction  of  them  into  on,  and  then  into  ism.  I  will  take 
catechism  to  illustrate  by:  First,  it  was  catechise,  then  cat- 
echise 'cm,  then  "catechism."  The  noun  catechism  came 
to  be  used  to  express  the  process  of  "catechising  'em." 
So  incivism,  from  "  incivise  them;"  so  radicalism,  from 
"radicalizing  them,"  and  so  on.  When  once  the  form  of 
making  a  noun  from  a  previous  proceeding,  or  process,  was 
instituted,  it  was  adopted,  without  reference  to  its  origin. 
But  I  can  say  no  more  :  you  have  my  solution.  It  will 
do  to  account  for  it,  if  no  better  be  pointed  out.  Radical- 
ism is  the  process  of  "  radicalizing  them."  I  rather  suspect 
catechism  was  the  first  of  the  words.  It  was  the  one  I  be- 
gan with,  in  solving  the  problem 

The  above  was  in  "answer  to  an  inquiry  of  Judge  Ste- 
phens. They  frequently,  in  their  correspondence,  discussed 
the  meaning  of  the  like  terminations;  c. g. ,  God-head,  God- 
ship,  etc.;  as,  see  the  following: 

[From  A.  II.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  January  2,  1869. 

DEAR  BROTHER — What  is  the  origin  of 

ship,  at  the  end  of  English  words ;  such  as,  worship,  author- 
ship, etc.  ?  Also,  what  is  the  origin  of  ness,  at  the  end  of 
certain  other  words;  such  as,  greatness,  highness,  manli- 
ness, etc.  ?  

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.] 

SPARTA,  January  6,  1869. 

DEAR  BROTHER — With  a  big  and 

troublesome  clay's  work  before  me,  I  begin  by  writing  you 
a  line  to  let  you  hear  from  us  all.  I  am  quite  unwell — an- 
noyed to  death,  besides  being  sick — made  sick  chief!}',  per- 
haps, by  annoyances.  Land  sold  here,  yesterday,  at  prices 
considerably  higher  than  any  recently  obtained:  one  large 
place  of  thirteen  hundred  acres,  at  four  dollars  per  acre, 
and  one  of  one  thousand  acres  at  seven  dollars. 

Your  account  of  the  origin  of  "ism"  is  Certainly  very 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  3  1 1 

ingenious;  but  I  don't  think  it  is  correct.  When  you  said 
you  thought  that  the  habit  of  forming  words  with  the  ter- 
mination "ism,"  began  with  the  word  "  catechism, "  the 
thing  became  rich  in  humor.  The  fact  is,  I  laughed  over 
your  theory  heartily.  It  certainly  never  could  have  started 
with  any  other  word.  How  do  you  account  for  the  termi- 
nation "ise, "  in  verbs;  such  as,  advertise,  catechise,  har- 
monise, etc.?  The  "ise,"  in  verbs,  and  the  "ism,"  in 
nouns,  are  from  the  same  root.  What  that  root  is  cannot 
be  told  by  my  poor  skill  in  the  old  English  roots;  but  the 
meaning  of  that  root  is,  to  do,  or  make.  Take  advertise, 
for  instance:  advert  and  "is?"  are  its  three  distinct  roots. 
To  advertise  a  thing  is  to  make  it  adverted  to ;  you  see  my 
idea.  The  termination,  "ship,"  means  a  state,  or  situation; 
and  I  strongly  suspect  that  it  comes  from — no,  I  am  wrong; 
it  don't  mean  state.  State  is  passive,  but  ship  is  active.  It 
means  something  very  nearly  akin  to  process,  or  practice, 
or  acting.  For  instance,  authorship,  author,  practice,  au- 
thor-acting ;  heirship,  heir-practice,  or  heir-acting.  Some- 
times, the  meaning  becomes  more  obvious  by  reversing  the 
positions  of  the  parts;  as,  author-acting,  heir-acting,  means 
acting-author  or  acting-heir.  The  termination,  "ness," 
means  being,  existence,  or  essence;  and  I  suspect  "esse,"  in 
Latin,  and  essence  and  ness,  are  all  from  the  same  root, 
which  probably  pervades  many  languages,  if  it  is,  indeed, 
absent  from  any.  The  word  to  express  "being"  is  irreg- 
ular in  all  languages ;  and  irregularity  is  in  proportion  to 
universality. 

But  enough.  I  have  no  time  now.  The  fact  is,  I  am 
harrassed,  annoyed  and  worn  almost  to  despair  and  pros- 
tration. I  intend  to  go  and  see  you  in  ?,  few  days. 

Most  affectionately,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  February  13,  1870. 

DEAR  BROTHER — By  the  way,  the 

adjournment  of  the  Richmond  court  may  have  a  contagious 
influence  on  our  courts  generally;  and  I  shall  not  be  at  all 
surprised  if  your  court  is  also  adjourned.  I  suppose  you 
noticed  an  account  of  the  adjournment  in  August — that  it 
was  put  on  the  ground  of  doubt  as  to  the  validity  of  any 


312  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

proceedings  which  might  be  had.  I  think  the  adjournment, 
on  that  ground,  was  a  mistake,  and  a  mistake  which,  from 
its  contagious  nature,  may  produce  annoying  delays  in  busi- 
ness. If  the  courts  would  only  go  along  and  attend  to 
their  business,  I  have  very  little  doubt  that  the  validity  of 
their  proceedings  would  be  sustained  without  even  serious 
question.  Any  government  that  is  likely  to  be  put  on  us 
will  treat  all  its  predecessors  as  cfc  facto  governments,  what- 
ever it  may  say  about  them.  The  fact  is,  no  Radical  can 
believe  more  strongly  than  I  do,  that  all  the  government 
which  we  have  had  since  the  war  ended  has  been  utterly 
illegal ;  but  I  am  not  prepared,  nor  clo  I  believe  the  Rad- 
icals are  prepared,  to  pronounce  it  all  mill  and  void.  They 
hold  that  all  the  government,  under  secession,  was  illegal ; 
and  yet,  in  their  new  Constitution,  they  affirmed  every  bit 
of  it,  except  such  parts  as  were  in  conflict  with  their  own 
subsequent  action.  So  it  will  be  again.  This  is  the  neces- 
sity of  society,  and  cannot  be  ignored  in  action,  however 
much  it  may  be  denied  in  speech 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  May  31,  1870. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Alfriend 

himself  had  a  decided  attack  of  the  same  disease,  and  laid 
up  on  account  of  it  yesterday  and  the  day  before.  1  got 
quite  a  laugh  on  him,  last  night,  by  dragging  out  of  him  a 
confession  that  he  had  not  used,  for  himself,  the  remedies 
which  he  was  prescribing  for  his  patients.  He  made  an  ex- 
planation ;  but  it  was  so  lame  that  it  did  not  make  impres- 
sion enough  to  be  even  remembered.  The  explanation  is — 
his  reluctance  to  take  medicine.  I  don't  think  it  would  be 
quite  just  to  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  is  his  lack  of  faith 
in  the  virtue  of  the  medicine ;  and  yet,  there  is  undoubt- 
edly a  general  tendency  in  mankind  to  appreciate  the  virtue 
of  medicine  more  highly  for  other's  than  for  one's  self.  I 
hope  we  shall  all  be  well  again  in  a  few  days 

I  have  been  reading  "Bledsoe"  with  great  entertainment 
and  some  profit.  He  is  a  very  peculiar  man.  He  is  quite 
a  thinker — and  logical,  too;  but  the  light  of  his  understand- 
ing seems  to  be  always  refracted  by  its  passage  through  the 
medium  of  his  passions.  It  will  always  lead  to  error,  in- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  313 

stead  of  truth,  unless  it  is  subjected  to  the  correcting  guid- 
ance of  some  other  mind  that  understands  the  laws  of  re- 
fraction. Still,  he  is  a  luminous  body,  and  emits  light  in 
great  profusion.  Even  his  article  on  the  "Theory  of  Rea- 
soning," while  it  is  freer  from  the  blurs  and  errors  of  zeal 
and  passion  than  any  other  which  I  have  ever  read  from 
him,  is  still  not  entirely  free.  I  think  that  is  a  grand  arti- 
cle ;  and  yet,  I  do  not  think  it  goes  to  the  bottom  of  the 
subject.  It  is  far  in  advance  of  anything  else  ever  seen  on 
the  same  subject,  but  does  not  go  to  the  full  extent  of  the 
ideas  which  I  have  long  entertained  on  that  subject.  He 
has  gone  far  ahead  of  me  in  the  power  and  beauty  of  his 
illustrations,  without  going  so  far  as  I  have  gone  with  the 
main  idea.  The  idea  that  deductive  reasoning  leads  to  new 
truth,  and  so  becomes  worthy  of  the  name  of  reasoning^ 
only  when  it  is  employed  upon  the  relations  of  things,  in- 
stead of  their  properties,  etc Sam.  Barnett 

came  over  Wednesday  and  staid  with  us  until  Saturday 
morning.  His  visit  was  a  very  pleasant  one  to  all  of  us, 
and  apparently  to  him  also 

Judge  Stephens'  norms  of  political  action  were  fixed,  pro- 
nounced and  stable,  as  those  he  prescribed  for  the  govern- 
ment of  his  personal  conduct  were  "without  variableness 
or  shadow  of  turning."  Truth — simple,  naked,  rugged — 
was  the  divinity  he  worshipped ;  he  bowed  before  no  other 
altar:  there  he  knelt  "with  an  almost  Eastern  idolatry." 
He  scorned  any  " policy"  in  political  tactics,  as  in  anything 
else,  which  compromised,  in  the  least,  any  cardinal  doctrine 
of  his  creed.  He  spurned  triumph  when  achieved  at  the 
sacrifice  of  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  truth,  as  he  understood 
it.  He  regarded  "the  coalition"  between  the  Democrats 
and  the  Liberal  Republicans,  proposed  about  this  time,  as 
little  less  than  a  surrender,  on  the  part  of  the  former,  of 
the  most  cherished  principles  of  their  faith.  Hence,  he  re- 
pudiated "the  coalition."  His  counsels  did  not  prevail 
ultimately ;  and  the  movement  culminated,  two  years  after- 
wards, in  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Greeley  for  the  Presidency 
30 


314  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

by  the  Liberal  Republicans,  and  the  ratification  of  their 
nomination  by  the  Democrats.  Posterity  will  determine 
who  was  the  more  sagacious — he,  and  the  minority  with 
whom  he  acted,  or  the  large  majority  of  the  Democratic 
party.  Two  facts  are  historic:  the  one  that  Mr.  Greeley 
was  defeated — the  other  is  that  Governor  Smith  was  elected 
to  the  gubernatorial  chair  without  regular  opposition,  first, 
and  re-elected  by  the  largest  popular  majority  ever  received 
by  any  candidate  before  for  any  office  in  the  State.  The 
platform  upon  which  Smith  was  elected  was  framed  by 
Linton  Stephens. 

On  the  2<Sth  of  July,  he  writes  to  his  brother: 

SPARTA,  July  28,  1870. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have 

just  written  a  letter  to  Andy  Dawson,  on  politics,  pouring 
hot  shot  into  the  Chase  movement,  and  into  all  people  who 
want  to  abandon  principle  and  go  into  coalitions  for  public 
plunder.  I  have  talked  with  several  leading  Democrats  in 
this  county,  and  found  them  all  right.  They  all  said  the)' 
wanted  me  to  go  to  the  convention.  I  told  them  I  would 
go  if  chosen.  I  do  believe  that  even  one  powerful  battery 
would  be  sufficient  to  break  up  coalition  and  drive  the  hosts 
into  the  support  of  sound  principles.  The  strong  power 
to  use  on  them  is  to  convince  them  that  a  sound  man,  on 
sound  principles,  will  be  run  aiiy/iow,  and  that  coalition  will, 
therefore,  be  a  necessary  failure.  Coalition  flees  from  fail- 
ure, as  purity  flees  from  pollution.  They  would  pull  clown 
their  own  banner,  and  take  chances  for  the  good  luck  which 
falls  pretty  liberally  to  even  the  rogues  who  help  honest 
men  into  power. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LINTON  STEP] i ENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  August  7,  1870. 

DEAR  BROTHER— The  delegates 

from  this  county  to  the  Democratic  convention  are — Ben 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  315 

Harris,  John  Culver,  T.  J.  Adams,  and  myself.  I  doubt 
whether  any  of  them  will  go  to  the  convention,  except  Ben 
Harris  and  myself.  I  shall  go  with  very  little  hope  of  doing 
any  good.  The  men  of  luck,  all  over  the  world,  have  been 
against  the  cause  of  good  government  ever  since  secession  ; 
and  it  is  still  unbroken.  It  is  just  as  perverse  and  persistent 
as  the  run  of  cards.  I  believe  that  the  Prussians  will  beat 
Napoleon,  and  accomplish  Bismarck's,  scheme  of  a  consol- 
idated German  Empire.  I  believe  so,  only  because  the  run 
of  luck  is  that  way — against  liberty,  everywJicrc.  The  ideas 
now  moving  the  world  are,  for  the  most  part,  morbid  and 
crazy  ideas,  which  are  the  legitimate  fruit  of  hot-bed  and 
universal  education.  I  am  beginning  to  believe  that  many 
things,  usually  accounted  as  unmixed  blessings  to  mankind 
are  more  curses  than  blessings.  Education  is  one  of  them, 
and  religion  is  another.  I  speak  of  education  and  religion, 
so-called,  and  such  as  pass  current  in  the  world.  Speaking 
of  education  reminds  me  to  tell  you  that  I  expect  to  have 
your  protege,  Harris,  for  the  teacher  of  our  little  school. 
I  wrote  to  Professor  Waddell  to  send  me  a  teacher.  He 
offered  Harris,  with  a  very  high  commendation  of  his  tal- 
ents, attainments,  and  character;  and  I  have  just  written 
my  acceptance  of  the  offer.  He  is  to  remain  at  Athens, 
perfecting  himself  in  the  pronunciation  of  French,  under  Pro- 
fessor Charbonnier,  until  the  ist  of  October,  and  is  then  to 
come  and  open  the  school.  So  the  children  have  quite  a 
vacation  still  before  them 

He  was  of  the  committee  on  the  business  of  the  State 
Democratic  convention,  and  here  follows  the  platform,  as 
drafted  by  him,  whereon  the  party  so  triumphantly  swept 
the  State : 

Resolved,  i.  That  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  of 
Georgia  stand  upon  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party 
of  the  Union — bringing  into  special  prominence,  as  appli- 
cable to  the  present  extraordinary  condition  of  the  country, 
the  unchangeable  doctrine  that :  This  is  a  Union  of  States, 
and  of  the  indestructibility  of  the  States,  and  of  their  rights, 
and  of  their  equality  with  each  other,  as  an  indispensable 
part  of  our  political  system, 


316  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Resolved,  2.  That,  in  the  approaching  State  election,  the 
Democratic  party  cordially  invite  everybody  to  co-operate 
with  them  in  a  zealous  determination  to  change,  as  far  as 
the  several  elections  to  be  held  can  do  so,  the  present  usurp- 
ing and  corrupt  administration  of  the  State  government,  by 
placing  in  power  men  who  are  true  to  the  principles  of  con- 
stitutional government,  and  to  a  faithful  and  economical  ad- 
ministation  of  public  affairs. 

Rcsok'cd,  3.  That  the  president  of  this  convention  be  in- 
structed to  appoint  an  executive  committee,  composed  of  two 
from  each  Congressional  district,  who  shall  choose  a  chair- 
man from  outside  their  own  number,  with  power  on  their 
part  to  call  a  future  convention  of  the  Democratic  part}-, 
and  with  such  other  powers  as  have  been  usually  exercised 
by  Democratic  executive  committees;  and  that  their  ap- 
pointment last  until  the  assemblage  of  the  next  Democratic 
convention. 

Judge  Stephens  \vas  selected  chairman  of  the  State  Demo- 
cratic Executive  Committee.  In  his  letter  of  acceptance, 
he  avowed  so  strongly  his  unalterable  adhesion  to  the  old 
faith,  that  some  of  the  new-departurists,  so-called,  con- 
demned his  letter  as  impolitic.  He  resigned  in  consequence 
thereof.  A  meeting  of  the  committee  was  called  at  Macon 
to  fill  the  vacancy  thereby  created.  The  following  letter  to 
his  friend,  Hon.  Martin  J.  Crawford,  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee, evoked  by  the  occasion,  explains  itself: 

SPARTA,  September  19,  1870. 

DKAK  JUDGE — Your  letter,  forwarded  to  me  from  home 
while  I  was  at  Greene  court,  was  received  last  week.  I  had 
no  opportunity  to  answer  it  then,  nor  was  my  mind  then 
made  up  as  to  all  I  might  have  to  say  in  answer.  I  did  not 
need  a  moment's  reflection  to  say  that  it  gratified  me  very 
much,  and  made  me  laugh  very  heartily;  but  I  needed  both 
further  developments  and  further  reflection  to  determine  my 
course;  and  I  at  once  foresaw  that,  if  my  course  should  be 
what  I  have  now  determined  it  shall  be,  I  should  have  to 
ask  your  assistance.  Don't  be  alarmed,  for  I  am  not  going 
to  ask  anything  that  involves  martyrdom,  or  even  heroism, 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS. 

or  that  requires  you  to  incur  any  personal  hazard  whatever. 
Don't  understand  me  as  intimating  the  least  doubt  that  you 
are  capable  of  winning  the  hero's  chaplet,  or  the  martyr's 
crown,  in  a  proper  case :  I  only  mean  that,  in  the  present  in- 
stance, there  is  no  need  for  the  sacrifice. 

The  assistance  I  want  involves  a  confidence,  and  although 
a  confidence  like  a  bargain,  requires  tivo  to  make  it;  yet,  I 
do  not  feel  that  I  am  presuming  too  far  on  your  friendship, 
in  assuming  that  it  will  be  accepted  by  you  for  me,  as  it 
would  be  accepted  by  me  for  you,  in  a  like  case.  The  ex- 
ecutive committee,  when  it  meets  at  Macon,  on  the  2/th 
instant,  may,  or  may  not,  elect  me  chairman.  If  I  am  not 
elected,  why,  there  is  an  end  of  it,  and  there  is  nothing  fur- 
ther to  be  done  on  my  part ;  bi.it  if  I  am  elected,  then  I 
wish  to  decline  the  appointment ;  and  I  wish  you  to  express 
this  determination  for  me  after  the  event,  and  on  the  spot, 
and  at  the  moment.  Of  course,  I  cannot  allow  the  com- 
pletion of  the  committee  to  be  longer  delayed  by  any  ac- 
tion of  mine;  and,  therefore,  it  shall  not  be  prevented,  by 
me,  from  securing  a  chairman  before  it  disperses. 

The  confidence  which  I  commit  to  you,  is  to  keep  my  in- 
tention sacredly  secret  until  the  election  is  over.  Don't  com- 
municate it  to  anybody  at  all,  but  keep  it  in  your  own  breast 
until  the  election  is  over.  I  should  despise  myself  if  I  were 
capable  of  holding  out  my  intended  declension  as  an  induce- 
ment to  bestow  on  me  an  empty  personal  compliment ;  but 
I  am  not  weak  enough  to  place  the  least  value  in  it,  if  it 
should  come  in  a  way  to  deprive  it  of  all  meaning. 

Therefore,  it  is  essential  that  my  intention  shall  not  be 
made  known  before  the  proper  time.  If  the  question  shall 
be  raised,  as  it  may  be,  whether  I  would  accept  or  not,  you 
are  authorized  to  say  I  would ;  and  then,  if  I  should  be 
elected,  you  are  further  authorized,  and  specially  requested, 
to  say  that  I  do  accept,  and  do  also  resign.  There  is  a  great 
deal  in  the  way  of  putting  a  thing,  and  the  way  to  put  this 
thing  is,  not  that  I  decline  the  position,  but  that  I  accept  it, 
and  resign  it.  There  is  a  substantial  and  wide  difference 
between  the  two  things,  and  my  form  of  statement  is  the 
proper  one  to  develop  the  difference.  The  language  which 
I  have  myself  used  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  letter,  about 
"  declining"  and  "declension,"  is  inaccurate,  and  should 
not  be  repeated.  The  proper  language,  if  the  position  be 


3l8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

tendered  to  me,  would  be  that  I  accept  it,  and  resign  it; 
and,  therefore,  the  proper  response  beforehand,  if  the  ques- 
tion should  be  asked,  is,  that  I  u'onld  accept  it.  I  ask  you 
to  act  for  me,  because  the  action  which  I  propose  to  take 
must  be  taken  on  the  spot  before  the  committee  disperses, 
and  I  can't  afford  to  be  present  myself  at  the  meeting  which 
is  to  make  the  election  I  can't  afford  to  be  even  in  the 
city  of  Alacon  at  the  time;  for  I  icill  not  assume  the  ap- 
pearance of  seeking  the  place.  I  am  not  seeking  it,  and  I 
don't  mean  to  incur  the  appearance  of  seeking  it;  and  now, 
a  few  words  for  you,  and  for  you  alone,  as  to  my  course 
after  the  organization  of  the  committee:  It  will  depend  on 
the  action  they  may  take  in  making  that  organization.  If 
they  tender  the  chairmanship  to  me,  and  pass  a  resolution 
leaving  the  subject  of  selecting  candidates  with  reference  to 
so-called  disabilities  just  where  the  convention  left  it,  I  shall 
be  "harmonious;"  but  if  they  undertake  to  put  any  con- 
demnation on  my  course  or  views,  I  shall  make  the  terrapin 
crai^'l.  I  know  that  I  hold  in  my  hands  the  necessary  coals 
of  fire,  and  I  shall  not  withhold  them  from  the  back  of  the 
animal.  I  don't  intend  to  be  thrown  into  disgrace,  because 
I  am  unwilling  to  join  in  betraying  the  Democratic  party 
by  hauling  down  its  colors,  silencing  its  guns,  and  surren- 
dering it  bodily  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy;  or,  what  is 
the  same  thing,  by  hauling  down  its  colors  and  silencing  its 
guns,  and  thus  leaving  it  to  become  the  inevitable  prey  of 
the  enemy.  The  men  who  want  to  haul  clown  the  colors 
and  silence  the  guns  want  it  as  a  means  to  an  end,  and  that 
end  is  surrender.  Some  of  them,  who  are  working  on  that 
line,  and  talking  largely  about  ruling  me  out  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  have  just  now,  for  the  first  time,  come  into  the 
Democratic  part}'  themselves,  and  have  come  only  to  betray 
it,  and  to  secure  its  defeat  and  destruction  ;  and  they  are, 

at  this  moment,  carrying  B —  's  money  in  their  pockets 

as  a  price  of  their  treachery.  If  I  were  with  you  in  per- 
son, I  would  tell  you  things  which  I  am  not  yet  read)"  to 
write,  even  to  you  ;  for  I  am  not  yet  willing  to  commit  them 
to  the  chances  of  the  mail.  \Yhen  men  talk  about  "ac- 
cepting our  government  as  it  is,"  as  the  convention  in  the 
— th  district  talked  the  other  day,  and  about  putting 

away  "dead  issues,"  as and  —      -  habitually  talk, 

I  know  what  they  mean — they  mean  treason ;  and  they  take 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  319 

an  inside  position  only  to  surrender  the  fortress.  If  the 
"issues"  which  the  Democratic  party  made  at  New  York, 
in  1868,  against  the  validity  of  Radical  usurpations  and  war- 
fare on  the  States,  are  indeed  "dead,"  then  the  Democratic 
party  is  dead  also — dead  already — although,  like  the  dead 
stage-horse,  it  may  not  find  out  the  fact  until  it  gets  to  the 
next  station.  To  abandon  these  issues,  and  accept  the  gov- 
ernment as  it  is,  means  to  form  a  coalition  on  the  basis  of 
giving  some  of  the  offices  to  so-called  Democrats,  and  con- 
ducting the  government  on  Radical  principles,  and  all  who 

join  the  coalition  will  become  followers  of at  a  long 

distance  behind.  The  fact  is,  they  will  be  out  of  smelling 
distance  at  the  start,  and  will  need  infinite  self-abasement  to 
bring  them  within  range  of  it.  They  will  have  to  acknowl- 
edge   's  superior  sagacity  in  foreseeing  the  necessity 

three  years  in  advance  of  themselves,  and  they  will  also 
have  to  confess,  with  great  openness  and  contrition,  their 
mortal  sin  in  having  withheld  from  him  their  aid  during  the 
very  period  when  their  aid  might  have  enabled  him  to  ac- 
complish still  greater  ameliorations  of  a  necessary  bad  thing. 
This  question,  as  to  paying  any  regard  to  so-called  disa- 
bilities in  soliciting  candidates  for  Congress,  can  be  placed 
in  a  practical  light  that  is  exceedingly  plain.  It  may  be, 
as  Judge  Hook,  in  his  recent  letter,  said  with  great  force, 
that  the  Radical  Congress  will  be  compelled,  by  public  opin- 
ion, to  recede  from  its  prescriptive  policy,  and  by  act  re- 
move all  the  so-called  disabilities.  If  so,  of  course,  it  is  all 
useless  and  foolish  to  pay  any  regard  to  those  so-called  dis- 
abilities in  selecting  candidates,  or  choosing  members  of 
Congress.  But  suppose  Judge  Hook  is  mistaken,  and  the 
Radical  Congress  shall  not  recede:  then  the  removal  of  so- 
called  disabilities  will  remain — as  it  heretofore  has  been — a 
matter  of  grace,  in  favor  of  particular  persons ;  and  no  man 
of  sense  can  doubt  that  the  grace  will  be  granted  to  none 
but  such  as  will  agree  to  accept  the  government  as  it  is — 
usurpations  and  all — and  conduct  it  on  that  basis  without 
even  a  pledge  against  unlimited  usurpation  in  the  future. 

Why,  and actually  favored  and  advised  the 

ratification  of  the  so-called  XVth  amendment.  This  is  the 
crucial  test:  Does  the  proposed  candidate  accept  the  gov- 
ernment as  it  is — confessed  usurpations  and  all — or  does  he, 
as  the  National  Democratic  party,  in  its  late  utterance  at 


32O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

New  York,  declared  it  would  do,  wage  war  upon  the  usurp- 
ations, and  insist  upon  the  Constitution  in  its  purity,  and 
upon  the  rights  of  the  States,  which  have  been  trampled 
in  the  dust  by  these  usurpations?  To  vote  fora  man  hold- 
ing the  first  of  these  positions  is  simply  to  kill  the  Demo- 
cratic party  by  the  action  of  its  own  members.  If  Radical- 
ism is  to  be  fought  at  all,  I  suppose  it  ought  to  be  fought 
for  some  reason  ;  and  when  a  man  tells  me  either  that  he 
does  not  intend  to  attack  it,  or  that  he  intends  to  attack  it 
without  weapons,  or  with  the  weakest  weapons  in  his  ar- 
mory, I  know  his  course  will  never  whip  it ;  and  when  he 
pretends  that  it  will,  he  is  either  a  fool  or  a  traitor.  The 
cry  of  "revolution"  and  "revolutionary,"  which  is  now  ap- 
plied, in  unison,  by  the  lira  and  the  True  Georgian,  the 
Constitution  and  the  Telcgrapli,  to  any  "issue"  which  is 
made  against  the  validity  of  the  so-called  XlVth  and  XVth 
amendments,  is  as  useless  as  it  is  treacherous.  The  turn 
which  its  vociferators  endeavor  to  give  to  it  is,  that  any  de- 
nial of  the  validity  of  these  so-called  amendments  is  an  at- 
tack on  our  present  established  form  of  government.  Es- 
tablished? How?  By  Congressional  enactment  and  Pres- 
idential proclamation  !  /  say  these  pretended  additions  to 
the  Constitution  could  be  "established"  only  in  the  mode 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  itself;  and  that,  not  having 
been  so  established,  they  are  nullities,  and  ought  to  be 
treated,  and  by  the  Democratic  party  icill  be  treated,  as 
nullities,  whenever  that  party  comes  into  the  administration 
of  the  government.  They  are  just  as  much  nullities  as  if 
they  had  been  enacted  and  proclaimed  by  a  mob  in  the 
street.  They  are  not  established,  nor  never  will  be,  until 
the  country  shall  accept,  as  a  finality,  the  doctrine  that  the 
Constitution  can  be  changed  by  Congressional  enactment 
and  Presidential  proclamation.  The  Alien  and  Sedition 
acts  raised  the  question  as  to  what  f oilers  were  conferred  in 
the  Constitution,  and  the  XlVth  and  XVth  (so-called) 
amendments  raise  the  question  as  to  what  papers,  or  serif's, 
or  ii.'orci<-,  if  you  please,  are  in  the  Constitution,  and  form 
a  part  of  it.  I  low  is  the  one  issue  any  more  revolutionary 
than  the  other?  Nobody  proposes  to  resist  the  present 
government  with  arms,  but  only  to  turn  out  the  usurpers 
by  t'otcs,  and  then  administer  the  government  according  to 
the  true  Constitution,  leaving  the  usurpers  to  submit,  as  we 


JUDGE    L1NTON   STEPHENS.  321 

have  done,  or  inaugurate  a  revolution  of  violence  and 
blood-shed,  if  they  shall  so  choose.  But  enough.  The 
importance  of  the  subject  is  my  excuse  for  the  length  of 
this  letter. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

LIXTON  STEPHENS. 

P.  S. — I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  attend  the  meet- 
ing of  the  committee.  I  beg  you  to  do  so.  L.  S. 

[From  L.  S.  to  Hon.  Martin  J.  Crawford.] 

SPARTA,  September  21,  1870. 

DEAR  JUDGE — Since  writing  to  you  the  other  day,  reflec- 
tion has  changed  my  mind,  and  I  now  hasten  to  say  that  I 
do  not  wish  to  have  the  chairmanship,  even  if  tendered  to 
me ;  and,  of  course,  my  position  noiv  is,  that  I  would  not 
accept  it,  if  it  should  be  tendered.  If  you  find  yourself  in- 
clined, on  this  announcement,  to  revert  to  the  fable  of  the 
fox  and  the  sour  grapes,  I  beg  you  to  make  an  accurate  an- 
alysis of  the  two  cases.  I  persuade  myself  that  such  an 
analysis  cannot  fail  to  disclose  a  difference.  The  fox  made 
repeated  attempts  to  get  the  grapes,  and,  after  finding  that 
they  were  beyond  his  reach,  he  said  they  were  sonr,  and 
then  he  walked  away.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  he 
had  no  reason  for  the  change  of  opinion  which  he  expressed 
in  relation  to  the  quality  of  the  grapes,  and  I  have,  accord- 
ingly, always  believed  that  the  change  was  feigned,  and  not 
real.  My  belief  has  always  been,  that  the  fox  had  just  as 
good  an  opinion  of  the  grapes  when  he  was  walking  away 
from  them,  as  when  he  was  jumping  at  ' evi,  and  that  he 
would  have  quickly  retraced  his  retreating  steps,  if  some 
friendly  hand  had  bent  down  the  bough  for  him.  The  real 
points  in  his  case  are  reducible  to  two :  the  first  is,  that  he 
undoubtedly  committed  the  criincn  falsi;  and  the  other  is, 
that  his  motive  was  to  preserve  his  dignity  under  ridiculous 
circumstances.  My  case  presents  very  different  features. 
I  have  never  tried  to  get  the  chairmanship,  and,  therefore, 
I  have  no  failure  which  needs  to  be  covered.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  let  it  go  when  I  might  have  held  it  by  virtue  of  the 
proxies,  after  it  had  been  put  into  my  hands,  wisougJit.  In 
the  next  and  last  place,  I  have  really  changed  my  opinion 
about  the  quality  of  the  fruit.  At  first,  it  was  fair  to  the 


322  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

eye,  and  promised  to  be  pleasant  to  the  taste ;  and  I  would 
have  taken  it,  if  I  could  have  carried  off  the  pri/e  without 
raising  the  whole  neighborhood  at  my  heels.  The  fox  evi- 
dently entered  upon  his  enterprise  with  a  determination  to 
snatch  the  spoil,  if  possible,  and  then  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come.  For  my  part,  I  never  had  a  fancy  for  carrying 
even  my  own  property  in  a  running  attitude,  I  don't  think 
the  situation  a  graceful  one.  I  was  remarkably  good  at  the 
game  of  "  deer, "  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  I  was  famous  at 
"wrap-jacket;"  but  now  I  would  surrender  my  own  hat 
rather  than  run  for  it  or  scramble  for  it.  I  have  arrived  at 
a  time  of  life  when  a  man  may  lose  his  dignity  in  trying  to 
preserve  his  property.  I  don't  want  anything  that  I  can't 
hold  without  a  "fuss;"  not  that  I  am  opposed  to  a  fuss, 
perse,  and  on  proper  principles;  but  I  haven't  the  heart  to 
keep  up  a  clamor  when  I  can  stop  it  by  dropping  sonietliing 
I  happen  to  have.  The  sensation  of  being  pursued  for 
"  some  nm  you've  got, "  is  an  unpleasant  one.  I'd  drop  it  at 
the  start,  even  if  it  were  a  thing  of  the  greatest  value.  But, 
as  I  have  said,  I  have  changed  my  opinion  about  the  fruit, 
and  I  now  regard  it  as  a  thing  of  no  value  at  all.  The  fact 
is,  the  Democratic  party  in  Georgia,  and  in  the  United 
States,  is  rapidly  becoming  a  mere  tail  to  the  reconstruc- 
tionists,  and  my  idea  is,  that  neither  honor  nor  profit  can 
be  found  in  identifying  one's  self  with  its  fortunes.  The 
tail  is  the  least  respectable  member,  even  of  a  noble  animal ; 
and  my  compassion  is  excited  for  the  agony  of  degradation 
which  awaits  the  Democrats  who  are  struggling  for  the  fail- 
skip  of  Radicalism.  I  shall  not  cease  to  point  out  to  them 
the  self-abasement  which  they  are  about  to  perpetrate,  so 
long  as  I  can  see  the  least  prospect  of  preserving  a  sound  nu- 
cleus for  the  basis  of  a  subsequent  reorganization  ;  but  I  shall 
take  no  part  or  lot  in  the  present  concern.  It  is  rotten — 
ruined  by  the  infernal  lust  for  office.  Defeat,  disastrous  and 
disgraceful,  is  alike  its  doom  and  its  due.  The  first  fruits 
are  already  seen  in  the  Maine  election.  The  Connecticut 
Legislature  refused  to  conform  to  the  so-called  XVth  amend- 
ment; the  Democracy  of  Pennsylvania  and  California,  and 
perhaps  other  States,  have  declared  against  its  validity,  and 
\ve  are  ingloriously  abandoning  the  fight  which  our  friends 
are  making  for  us.  And  we  are  doing  it  for  the  greed  of 
office,  and  at  the  dictation  of  a  Congressional  committee  ! 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  323 

The  chairman  of  it,  ,  docs  not  have  the  confidence 

of  his  own  constituency,  as  I  am  informed.  Their  foolish- 
ness even  exceeds  their  want  of  principle.  But  enough. 
Mark  the  prediction ! 

Yours,  truly, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 

Judge  Stephens,  although  he  declined  the  chairmanship, 
felt  anxious  concern,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  guber- 
natorial contest.  So  far  as  his  heavy  professional  engage- 
ments permitted,  all  his  energies  were  given  to  the  success 
of  the  ticket.  Take,  as  a  specimen,  the  letter  below,  ad- 
dressed to  his  client,  friend,  and  kinsman: 

[  From  L.  S.  to  Hon.  T.  J.  Smith.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  2,  1870. 

DEAR  JACK — Your  letter  was  handed  to  me  yesterday. 
The  interest  it  manifested  in  me  and  my  fortunes  is  very 
gratifying  to  me.  I  knew  before,  just  as  I  know  now,  that 
you  have  a  great  regard  for  me;  but  I  am  not  superior  to 
the  human  weakness  which  finds  pleasure  in  repeated  ex- 
pressions of  an  already  known  regard,  even  when  I  also 
know  that  the  expression  called  out  in  any  particular  in- 
stance is  not  equal  to  the  regard  in  general. 

And  now  I  am  very  sorry  to  be  compelled  to  tell  you, 
that  you  must  not  depend  on  me  co  represent  you  in  your 
defense  against  the  suit  of  Wilkinson  &  Wilkinson.  I  don't 
see  how  it  is  possible  for  me  to  do  so,  if  Judge  Andrews 
goes  on  with  our  Hancock  court  until  Saturday  night,  as  he 
must  do,  unless  he  leaves  a  large  amount  of  unfinished  bus- 
iness. It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  at  Washington 
court  on  Saturday,  or  on  any  other  day  of  that  week.  The 
Judge  has  usually  adjourned  our  court  on  Friday  night,  and 
gone  home  Saturday  morning ;  but  the  probabilities  are,  that 
Friday  night,  this  time,  will  find  the  business  in  a  state 
which  will  oblige  him  to  go  on  Saturday  with  the  court. 
We  have  a  number  of  criminal  cases,  several  of  them  capi- 
tal, and  Friday  night  is  very  apt  to  find  us  right  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  these.  But,  however  this  may  be,  I  know 
that,  by  Friday  night,  I  shall  be  worn  out  with  these  crimi- 


324  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

nal  trials.  This  class  of  cases  always  wears  me  far  more 
than  civil  business;  and  I  shall  be  incapable  of  discharging 
my  duties  at  Oglethorpe  the  following  week,  unless  I  can 
get  a  little  intervening  rest.  If  I  go  to  Washington,  I  shall 
have  to  take  a  night  drive,  and  get  no  day  of  rest;  but  if 
I  do  not  go,  I  shall  at  least  have  Sunday.  The  fact  is,  I 
firmly  believe  that,  after  toiling  through  the  criminal  trials 
here,  and  riding  the  greater  part  of  the  night  afterwards  to 
reach  your  court,  I  should  be  incapable  of  doing  justice  to 
your* case  the  next  day,  and  should  do  you  an  injury,  instead 
of  a  service,  by  keeping  the  lead  out  of  fresher,  and  there- 
fore safer,  hands.  My  idea  of  your  defense  is  briefly,  but 
clearly,  embodied  in  the  plea  which  I  drew  up  and  sent 
down  by  John  Traywick ;  and  I  think  it  would  be  wielded 
by  Governor  Johnson  and  Judge  Harris  with  more  power 
and  effect  than  it  could  be  by  me — especially  in  a  jaded  and 
worn-out  condition.  It  is  my  deliberate  judgment  that  my 
attempt  to  serve  you,  if  made  under  the  circumstances 
that  must  attend  it,  would  hint,  instead  of  help,  your  case. 
I  have  as  much  confidence,  perhaps,  as  I  ought  to  have  in 
my  legal  ability;  but  experience  leaves  me  no  doubt  of  the 
great  extent  to  which  my  capacity  for  any  particular  busi- 
ness is  impaired  by  preceding  wear  and  tear.  If  I  should 
appear  in  your  case,  under  the  disadvantageous  circum- 
stances which  would  necessarily  attend  me,  I  should,  in  all 
probability,  have  the  mortification  of  disappointing  you, 
and  of  being  obliged  to  believe  that  my  friend's  cause  had 
only  suffered  from  my  incompetent  effort  to  serve  it.  This 
is  my  sincere  feeling  and  judgment.  If  the  case  goes  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  my  services  would  be  as  valuable  to 
you  then  as  anybody  else's,  perhaps;  and  I  will  render  them 
with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

I  am  much  gratified,  but  not  at  all  surprised,  to  find  that 
you  approve  my  recent  course  in  relation  to  so-called  "eli- 
gibility." It  is  approved  most  heartily  by  brother,  General 
Toombs,  Governor  Johnson,  and  by  almost  everybody  in  old 
Hancock.  The  fhct  is,  it  is  approved  by  all  sensible  men, 
who  have  not  made  up  their  minds  to  abandon  principle  for 
office.  The  number  of  these,  as  shown  by  recent  develop- 
ments, is  alarmingly  large.  They  have  made  up  their  minds 
to  accept  and  abide  by  all  the  usurpation  and  malignant  op- 
pression perpetrated  by  the  Radical  party,  for  the  gracious 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  325 

privilege  of  being  allowed  to  hold  office,  if  they  can  get  it. 
In  my  judgment,  this  class  of  so-called  Democrats  are  just 
as  guilty  as  the  Radicals,  and  still  more  contemptible.  They 
pledge  themselves  not  to  disturb,  but  to  accept,  and  abide 
by,  and  carry  o ut  what  they  themselves  have  been' loudest  in 
denouncing  as  enormously  criminal  and  destructive.  This 
constitutes  their  guilt.  The  contempt  comes  from  the  base- 
ness of  their  motive,  as  well  as  the  ignominious  failure 
which  will  inevitably  mark  their  treachery.  They  are  fol- 
lowers of  ,  at  a  long  distance  behind ;  and  they  will 

soon  discover  that  they  can  remove  the  intervening  land 
between  him  and  them  only  by  vigorous  dirt-eating.  They 
will  have  to  acknowledge  his  superior  forecast,  and,  like  the 
dog  returning  to  his  vomit,  gulp  down  again  all  the  dirty 
denunciations  which  they  have  poured  out  upon  his  head. 
The  depths  of  self-abasement  to  which  they  will  descend 
are  unfathomable;  and  then  their  failure  will  be  as  ignomin- 
ious as  their  motives  are  base.  It  may  turn  out  that  the 
Radical  party  will  be  compelled,  by  the  force  of  public  opin- 
ion, to  recede  from  their  prescriptive  policy  altogether,  and 
pass  an  act  of  Congress  removing  the  so-called  disabilities 
from  everybody ;  but  so  long  as  the  removal  continues  to  be 
as  it  has  heretofore  been — a  grace  extended  to  particular 
persons — the  grace  will  never  be — as  it  never  has  been — ex- 
tended to  anybody  without  an  assurance,  either  from  him- 
self or  somebody  else  who  vouches  for  him,  that  he  will  sus- 
tain and  carry  out  the  reconstruction  scheme — including  the 
XlVth  and  XVth  so-called  amendments  of  the  Constitution. 
You  may  rely  upon  this  proposition  as  true,  i^itJiout  any 
exception.  It  is  possible  that  they  may  occasionally  ' '  catch 
a  Tartar"  in  some  fellow  who  will  refuse  to  stand  up  to  the 
assurance  given  for  him  by  his  vouchers;  but  I  have  yet  to 
find  a  single  instance  of  this  kind.  Of  all  the  men  who 
have  had  their  so-called  disabilities  removed,  I  do  no  know 
one  who  is  not  obliged  to  answer,  if  the  direct  question  is 
asked  him,  that  he  intends  to  abide  by  and  carry  out  the 
reconstruction  scheme.  I  need  not  point  out  to  you  the 
vast  difference  between  abiding  by  and  carrying  out  these 
measures,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  the  mere 
yielding  to  them,  or  not  resisting  them,  so  long  as  they  are 
enforced  by  the  bayonet.  To  resist  them,  under  present 
circumstances,  would  only  fasten  them  on  us  by  our  own 


326  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

folly:  to  abide  by  them  and  cany  them  out  would  be  to 
fasten  them  upon  us  by  our  own  baseness.  The  true  course 
of  wisdom  and  patriotism  is,  neither  to  resist  them  nor  ac- 
cept them,  but  to  hold  them  as  they  truly  are — nullities — 
which  are  to  be  utterly  disregarded  and  wiped  out,  when- 
ever sound  men  are  put  into  power.  The  vital  principle  of 
the  Democratic  party  is,  devotion  to  the  true  Constitution, 
and  opposition  to  these  monstrous  usurpations ;  and  when- 
ever this  issue  is  allowed  to  die,  the  Democratic  party  will, 
and  ought,  to  die  with  it.  Their  mission  is,  not  by  force, 
but  by  the  peaceful  ballot,  to  put  into  power  sound  men, 
who  are  pledged  to  wipe  out  all  the  usurpations,  and  re- 
establish the  true  Constitution  in  its  purity.  The  first  thing 
to  be  done  for  the  Democratic  party  is  to  purge  it  of  its 
rotten  element.  If  it  were  purified,  it  would  soon  become 
as  strong  as  it  would  immediately  be  glorious.  My  hope 
now  is  that  the  ignominious  defeat  which  awaits  its  present 
desertion  of  principle,  will  teach  it  the  much-needed  lesson, 
that  its  success  depends  on  its  fidelity  to  truth.  But  enough. 
All  in  usual  health,  and  all  join  me  in  love  and  good  wishes 
to  you  all.  Your  friend, 

LIXTON  STEPHENS. 

[  From  L.  S.  to  Colonel  Herbert  Fielder.  ] 

OCTOBER  8,  1870. 

Mv  DEAR  SIR — My  acknowledgment  of  your  letter,  ex- 
pressing your  approval  of  my  recent  course,  was  postponed, 
in  the  hope  of  having  leisure  to  write  you  somewhat  at 
length  ;  but  I  am  at  last  obliged  to  confine  myself  to  a  briei 
expression  of  the  pleasure  I  received  from  your  approba- 
tion, and  of  my  high  appreciation  of  the  views  presented 
by  you  on  the  same  line.  I  am  particularly  gratified  to 
find,  as  I  have  found,  that  I  am  completely  sustained  by 
the  very  first  intellects  in  the  Democratic  party.  I  believe 
I  am  sustained  by  all  sensible  men  who  have  not  made  up 
their  minds  to  abandon  principle  for  the  chances  of  office. 
I  am  just  in  the  midst  of  my  principal  courts;  otherwise, 
I  should  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  you  some  additional 
views  connected  with  those  so  strongly  expressed  by  you. 
I  am  truly  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter. 

Yours,  very  truly,  LINTOX  STEPHENS, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  327 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  10,  1870. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  imagine, 

however,  that  it  is  just  as  well  I  have  no  time  to  write  any- 
thing at  all ;  for  I  am  satisfied  that  the  so-called  Democracy 
are  bent  on  destruction  for  the  present.  I  know  that  the 
only  idea  of  those  who  are  manipulating  the  Democratic 
party,  just  now,  is  to  get  a  tiling  that  will  zvi/i,  and  my  hope 
is  that  the  disastrous  beating  that  awaits  them,  on  their 
present  line,  may  knock  some  sense  into  them.  Want  of 
sense  is  their  greatest  trouble ;  for,  great  as  their  baseness 
is,  it  is  exceeded  by  their  folly.  I  know  they  will  quit  their 
present  folly  as  soon  as  it  gets  its  inevitable  threshing. 
They  always  quit  a  thing  that  fails  to  win  at  the  first  trial, 
just  as  they  have  already  run  away  from  the  New  York 
platform,  and  from  every  vestige  of  Democratic  principle; 
but  my  fear  is  that,  in  dropping  their  present  folly,  they 
will  take  up  with  something  else  that  will  be  no  better.  It 
is  almost  impossible  for  corrupt  men  to  have  faith  in  the 
power  of  truth.  Naturally  enough,  they  cannot  expect  it  to 
exert  over  others  an  influence  of  which  they  themselves 
have  no  perception.  They  will  never  find  out  that  the  bat- 
tles of  truth,  when  they  are  lost  at  all,  as  in  1868,  are  lost, 
not  by  the  fidelity  and  candor  of  her  supporters,  but  by  the 
treachery  of  her  pretended  friends. 

My  last  and  surest  hope  is  that  the  people  will  find  out, 
from  bitter  experience,  that  their  present  leaders  are  even 
bigger  fools  than  knaves,  and  will  at  last  commit  their  for- 
tunes to  the  counsels  of  sensible  and  honest  men. 


The  Constitution  of  the  State  requires  a  poll-tax  to  be 
assessed,  which  shall  be  exclusively  "appropriated  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  A  large  number,  of  the  colored  people 
especially,  failed  to  pay  that  tax  in  1869.  The  Radical 
Legislature  of  the  following  year  ignored  that  provision  of 
the  Constitution  by  passing  an  act  instructing  the  several 
collectors  to  "desist"  from  collecting  the  poll-tax  for  the 
years  1868,  1869  and  1870.  The  manifest  aim  of  the  pro- 
ceeding was  to  secure  the  benefit  of  the  colored  vote  in  the 


328  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

coming  election  of  Governor  and  members  of  the  General 
Assembly.  In  the  count}7  of  Judge  Stephens'  residence, 
that  population  largely  preponderated ;  and,  standing  by 
the  Constitution,  he  made  issue  with  the  action  of  the 
Legislature,  on  the  clay  of  the  election,  by  challenging  the 
votes  of  such  as  had  not  paid  poll-tax  for  the  preceding 
year;  and,  when  overruled  by  a  majority  of  the  managers 
of  election — three  out  of  five — on  his  own  affidavit,  he  had 
the  refractory  majority  immediately  arrested,  carried  before 
a  magistrate,  tried,  committed,  and  they,  refusing  to  give 
bail,  imprisoned.  Their  places  were  at  once  supplied,  and 
the  election  proceeded.  The  affair  created  prodigious  ex- 
citement. It  was  an  episode  in  the  life  of  Judge  Stephens, 
in  that  it  brought  on  a  personal  collision  with  an  old  friend. 
He  was  the  only  person  Judge  Stephens,  since  the  date  of 
his  majority,  ever  struck  in  anger,  and  the  only  man  he  ever 
knocked  down  in  his  life.  The  affront  was  very  gross. 
The  unfortunate  matter  was,  however,  soon  amicably  ad- 
justed in  a  manner  honorable  alike  to  each,  as  the  following 
correspondence  discloses: 

[From  Dr.  A.  S.  Brown  to  L.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  December  24,  1870. 

HON.  LIXTON  STEPHENS — From  a  misapprehension  01 
facts,  I  did  a  very  foolish  thing  on  Tuesday.  I  heard  that 
the  managers  of  election  were  arrested,  the  ballot-box 
seized,  and  an  armed  party  were  in  line,  near  the  court- 
house. I  hastened  to  town.  On  the  way,  I  met  many 
persons,  white  and  black ;  all  I  could  get  to  stop  said  they 
were  going  for  arms. 

On  reaching  the  street,  I  inquired  of  several  gentlemen 
about  the  disturbance ;  had  no  intelligible  answer,  and, 
without  due  reflection,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a 
plan  previously  arranged,  and  that  a  collision  with  the  ne- 
groes was  inevitable  and  speedy.  I  selected  you  as  the  pre- 
sumed author  of  the  revolutionary  procedure. 

1  am  satisfied  that  the  arrest  of  the  managers  was  right 
and  lawful ;  that  the  ballot-box  was  properly  cared  for,  and 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  329 

that  the  appearance  of  an  armed  force  of  citizens  on  the 
scene  was  a  mistake,  and  that  you  had  nothing  to  do  with 
this  armed  party  whatever. 

Therefore,  I  make  the  most  ample  amende  in  my  power ; 
withdraw,  with  pleasure,  my  language  and  my  action  to- 
wards you  ;  and  I  now  respectfully  request  the  re-establish- 
ment of  our  former  friendly  relations. 

Yours,  respectfully,  A.  S.  BROWN. 

[Reply.] 

SPARTA,  December  24,  1 870. 

DR.  A.  S.  BROWN — Sir:  Your  note,  by  Eddie,  is  just  re- 
ceived, and  is  entirely  satisfactory.  I  was  utterly  surprised 
at  the  time;  and  now,  the  misapprehension  under  which 
you  acted,  as  you  inform  me,  explains  it  all.  I  can  and  do 
truly  say  that  the  explanation  restores  us  to  our  former  re- 
lations, and  leaves  no  grudge  in  my  mind. 

Yours,  respectfully,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

Although  Dr.  Brown  was  satisfied  of  the  prudence  and 
propriety  of  Judge  Stephens'  course  in  arresting  the  three 
managers,  Governor  Bullock  pretended  not  to  be.  At  his 
instance,  Judge  Stephens  was  arrested,  by  a  United  States 
marshal,  on  the  ground  stated  in  the  following^etter : 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  January  18,  1871. 

DEAR  BROTHER — Soon  after 

I  got  home,  I  was  arrested  by  a  United  States  marshal, 
under  a  warrant  issued  by  United  States  Commissioner 
Swayze,  founded  on  affidavits  of  the  two  negro  managers 
of  election  in  this  county,  charging  me  with  divers  viola- 
tions of  the  Enforcement  act — "intimidation,"  "hinder- 
ing," etc.,  under  the  sixth  section — and  interfering  with 
managers  of  election  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  etc., 
under  the  nineteenth  section.  The  marshal  called  himself 
Seaford.  He  was  very  polite — took  my  word  for  my  ap- 
pearance at  Macon  next  Friday,  the  2Oth  instant,  and  took 
his  leave.  I  asked  him  to  take  me  before  Judge  Erskine, 

31 


33O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

instead  of  Commissioner  Swayze.  This  he  would  not  do. 
I  expected  him  to  decline  it,  as  he  did;  but  I  wanted  the 
benefit  of  his  refusal. 

The  people  here  are  in  pretty  much  of  a  stir.  George 
Pierce  is  to  go  with  me  to  Macon,  and  carry  a  power  of  at- 
torney, which  was  signed  by  a  large  number  yesterday,  and 
will  be  signed  by  more  to-day,  authorizing  him  to  sign  their 
names  to  any  bond  that  may  be  required  of  me;  besides 
George,  who  knows  all  the  facts  of  the  prosecution  of  the 
managers,  Clarence  Simmons  and  John  Culver  (one  of  the 
two  dissenting  managers)  will  go  over  as  witnesses,  in  case 
I  shall  need  them.  I  don't  expect  to  need  them;  for  I 
think  I  shall  draw  everything  out  of  the  two  negroes,  and 
thus  get  the  concluding  argument  on  the  commitment  trial. 
If  I  am  not  deprived  of  my  voice  by  a  horrible  cold,  which 
has  been  developed,  or  caught,  perhaps,  since  I  left  you,  I 
think  I  shall  make  the  infernal  rascals  sorry  that  they  ever 
molested  me.  I  have  got  thunder  in  me :  I  only  pray  for 
a  happy  vent 

Judge  Stephens,  as  has  been  seen,  opposed,  with  his 
might,  every  new  departure  from  the  old  landmarks  of  the 
Constitution.  He  believed  the  XlVth  and  XVth  amend- 
ments of  the  Constitution  to  be  nullities,  and  that  they 
ought  to  be  treated  as  nullities  by  the  courts.  The  recon- 
struction aUs  of  Congress,  and  all  the  monstrous  outrages 
upon  popular  liberty  and  local  self-government,  which  were 
germinated  of  the  same  spirit  and  spawn,  he  loathed  and 
spat  upon.  The  following  speech,  which  he  made  in  his 
own  defense,  in  January,  1871,  at  Macon,  when  arraigned 
before  the  United  States  commissioner  on  a  charge  of  hav- 
ing violated  the  Enforcement  act,  so-called,  avouches  the 
accuracy  of  this  statement.  The  reader  will  concede  that 
the  wealth  of  all  forensic  literature  may  be  searched  in  vain 
for  a  performance  that  surpasses  it  in  point  of  genuine  man- 
liness, civil  courage,  nervous  English,  the  eloquence  of  pa- 
triotic fervor,  or  cogent,  compact,  red-hot  logic.  It  is  a 
demonstration  of  his  whole  proposition,  "if  there  be  one 
in  Euclid:  " 


JUDGE  LINTON  STEPHENS.  331 

SPEECH  OF  HON.  LINTON  STEPHENS,  IN  MACON,  GEORGIA,  ON 
THE  "RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES,"  AND  THE  "ENFORCE- 
MENT ACT"  OF  1870,  DELIVERED  230  OF  JANUARY,  1871. 

May  it  please  the  Court :  I  know  full  well  that,  if  your 
Honor  is  not  superior  to  the  average  of  poor  human  nature, 
you  will  find  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  give  my  defense 
in  this  case  an  impartial  consideration,  and  an  honest  deci- 
sion. The  prosecution  against  me  is  founded  on  the  course 
which  I  took  in  the  recent  political  election,  which  resulted 
in  a  victory  for  my  party  and  a  defeat  for  yours.  It  is  also  di- 
rectly in  the  line  of  an  assault  which  was  lately  made  against 
me  in  the  newspapers,  by  the  official  head  of  your  party  in 
this  State.  I,  therefore,  recognize  in  this  case  apolitical  pros- 
ecution, just  as  distinctly  as  I  recognize  in  my  judge  a  most 
zealous  and  determined  political  opponent.  Yet,  sir,  there 
are  other  considerations  which  encourage  me  to  hope  that  I 
may  obtain,  even  from  you,  that  decision  which  is  demanded 
by  justice  and  by  the  laws.  From  the  personal  knowledge 
of  you  which  I  have  acquired  since  the  beginning  of  this 
trial,  I  have  discovered  that  you  are  a  man  of  decided  intel- 
ligence ;  and  I  am  told  that  you  are  a  man  of  courage.  I 
am  also  told  that  you,  yourself,  have  been,  in  some  in- 
stances, a  victim  of  political  persecution,  and  an  object  of 
unjust  obloquy.  Surely,  such  a  man,  with  such  an  expe- 
rience, ought  to  give  a  fair  hearing  to  one  whose  only  fault 
is  not  any  wrong  which  he  has  committed  against  the  laws, 
but  the  damage  which  he  has  inflicted  upon  a  political  party. 
My  greatest  encouragement,  however,  is  derived  from  my 
confidence  in  the  lawfulness  of  my  conduct  and  the  power 
of  truth.  To  truth,  bravely  upheld,  belongs  a  triumph 
which  cannot  be  defeated,  nor  long  delayed,  not  even  by 
the  intensest  prejudices  of  partisan  strife.  I  am  strength- 
ened, too,  in  the  advocacy  of  truth,  on  this  occasion,  by  the 
consciousness  that,  in  defending  myself,  I  shall  be  but  de- 
fending principles  which  are  dear  to  every  American,  be- 
cause they  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole  fabric  of  Amer- 
ican constitutional  liberty.  Now,  sir,  unless  I  am  much 
mistaken  in  the  estimate  which  I  have  formed  of  your  char- 
acter, will  you  listen  to  my  defense  any  the  less  favorably 
because  of  the  frankness  and  boldness  with  which  I  shall 
present  it. 


332  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

I  am  accused  under  the  Enforcement  act  of  Congress. 

My  first  proposition  is,  that  this  whole  act  is  not  a  law, 
but  a  mere  legal  nullity. 

It  was  passed  with  the  professed  object  of  carrying  into 
effect  what  are  called  the  XlVth  and  XVth  amendments  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  depends  on  their 
validity  for  its  own. 

These  so-called  amendments  are,  as  I  shall  now  proceed 
to  show,  not  tntc  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  and  do 
not  form  any  part  of  that  sacred  instrument.  They  are 
nothing  but  usurpations  and  nullities,  having  no  validity 
themselves,  and  therefore  incapable  of  imparting  any  to  the 
Enforcement  act,  or  to  any  other  act  whatsoever. 

I  take  occasion  to  say,  that  I  regard  the  Xlllth  amend- 
ment, abolishing  slavery,  as  clearly  distinguishable  from  the 
XlVth  and  XVth  so-called  amendments,  in  the  manner  both 
of  its  proposal  and  of  its  ratification.  The  contrast  between 
it  and  them  will  contribute  to  make  their  invalidity  all  the 
more  apparent.  It  is  true,  that  when  the  Xlllth  amend- 
ment was  proposed,  ten  States  of  the  Union  were  absent 
from  Congress ;  but  their  absence  was  voluntary,  and  there- 
fore did  not  affect  the  validity  of  their  proposal.  It  is  true, 
also,  that  the  Legislatures  which  ratified  it  for  these  ten  States 
had  their  initiation  in  a  palpable  usurpation  of  power  on 
the  part  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  ;  yet,  it  is  also 
unquestionably  true,  that  they  were  elected  and  sustained 
by  overwhelming  majorities  of  the  true  constitutional  con- 
stituencies of  the  States  for  which  they  acted ;  they  rested 
on  the  consent  of  the  people,  or  constitutional  constituen- 
cies of  the  States,  and  were  therefore  truly  "  Legislatures  of 
the  States."  This  amendment  was  ratified  by  these  Legis- 
latures of  the  States  in  good  faith,  and  in  conformity  with 
the  almost  unanimous  wish  of  the  constitutional  "  Peoples." 

How  different  is  the  case  of  the  XlVth  and  XVth  so- 
called  amendments  !  If  these  are  parts  of  the  Constitution, 
I  ask,  How  did  they  become  so?  Were  they  proposed  by 
Congress  in  a  constitutional  manner? 

In  framing  and  proposing  them,  every  State  in  the  Union 
was  entitled,  by  the  express  terms  of  the  Constitution,  to 
be  represented  in  speech  and  vote  by  "two  Senators"  and 
"at  least  one  Representative."  But  ten  States  of  the  Union 
were  absent.  This  time  their  absence  was  not  voluntary,  but 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  333 

compulsory:  when  they  were  claiming  a  hearing,  through 
their  constitutional  representatives,  they  were  driven  away, 
and  denied  all  participation  in  framing  and  proposing  these 
amendments !  Was  this  a  constitutional  mode  of  proposal  ? 
I  say,  it  was  an  unconstitutional  mode,  and  that  the  pro- 
posal was,  ab  initio,  null  and  void. 

But  how  stands  the  ratification  of  these  so-called  amend- 
ments? To  say  nothing  about  the  duress  of  bayonets  and 
Congressional  dictation,  under  which  the  ratification  was 
forced  through  the  ratifying  bodies  in  the  ten  Southern 
States,  the  great  question  is,  Who  were  these  ratifying 
bodies?  Were  they  Legislatures  of  the  States?  They  were 
not.  They  were  the  creatures  of  notorious  and  avowed  Con- 
gressional usurpation.  They  were  elected,  not  by  the  con- 
stitutional constituencies  of  the  States,  but  by  constituen- 
cies created  by  Congress,  not  only  outside  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, but  in  palpable  violation  of  one  of  its  express  provi- 
sions. The  suffrage,  or  political  power,  of  the  States  is  not 
delegated  to  the  General  Government  by  the  Constitution ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  its  reservation,  by  the  States,  is  ren- 
dered exceedingly  emphatic  by  that  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution which,  instead  of  creating  a  constituency  to  elect 
its  own  officers — President,  Vice-President,  and  members  of 
Congress — adopts  the  constituencies  of  the  States,  as  regu- 
lated by  the  States  themselves,  for  the  election  of  the  most 
numerous  branch  of  their  own  Legislatures. 

Ten  of  the  ratifications,  which  were  falsely  counted  in 
favor  of  these  miscalled  amendments  as  ratifications  by  Leg- 
islatures, were  only  ratifications  by  bodies  which  had  their 
origin  in  Congressional  usurpation,  were  elected  by  illegal 
constituencies,  unknown  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  Constitutions  of  the  States,  and  were  organ- 
ized and  manipulated  under  the  control  of  military  com- 
manders who  claimed  and  exercised  the  jurisdiction  of  pass- 
ing upon  the  election  and  qualification  of  their  members. 
Can  these  joint  products  of  usurpation,  fraud,  and  force  be 
palmed  off  as  Legislatures  of  States  ?  Can  ratifications  by 
them  be  accepted  as  ratifications  by  Legislatures  of  States? 
Can  falsehood  thus  be  converted  into  truth  by  the  thimble- 
rigging  of  Presidential  proclamations  ?  These  bodies  were, 
indeed,  set  up  by  their  usurping  creators  as  Legislatures 
for  and  over  States ;  but  until  the  known  truth  of  recent  his- 


334  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

tory  can  be  blotted  out  by  the  mere  power  of  shameless  as- 
sertion, they  cannot  be  recognized  as  Legislatures  of  States. 
The  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  is  a  Legislature  _/tfr  and  over 
poor,  down-trodden  Ireland;  but  what  Irishman  will  ever 
recognize  it  as  the  Legislature  of  Ireland ! 

The  false,  spurious,  and  revolutionary  character  of  these 
ratifying  bodies  is  rendered  still  more  glaring  by  the  fact 
that,  supported  by  the  bayonet,  they  subverted,  or  rather 
repressed,  the  true,  legitimate  Legislatures  of  all  the  States 
where  reconstruction  was  applied.  That  such  Legislatures 
existed  in  these  States,  and  are  indeed  still  existing,  is  de- 
monstrable from  the  facts,  viewed  in  the  light  of  either  of 
the  two  theories  of  secession — that  of  its  validity  or  inva- 
lidity. On  either  theory,  the  seceding  States  remained 
States.  On  the  one  theory,  they  were  States  of  the  Union  ; 
on  the  other,  they  have  remained  all  the  while  States  in  the 
Union.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
recent  case  of  White  i>s.  Texas,  speaking  through  Mr.  Chief 
Justice  Chase,  held  that  secession  was  invalid,  and  that  the 
States  which  had  attempted  it  remained,  and  still  are,  States 
in  the  Union. 

A  State  is  not  a  disorganized  mass  of  people :  it  is  an  or- 
ganized political  body.  It  must  have  a  constitution  of  some 
sort,  written  or  traditional.  Being  an  organized  body,  it 
must  have  a  law  of  organization,  or  composition,  or  consti- 
tution, defining  the  depositary  of  its  political  power.  Where 
there  is  no  such  constitutional,  or  constituting,  or  organ- 
izing, or  fundamental  law,  there  can  be  no  organization — 
no  State.  These  ten  States,  then,  which  seceded,  or  at- 
tempted to  secede  (as  the  one  theory  or  the  other  may  be 
held),  have  all  the  while  had  Constitutions.  In  point  of  fact, 
each  of  these  has  ever  been  a  written  Constitution,  giving 
the  ballot  to  defined  classes  of  citizens  who  are  known  as 
the  constitutional  constituency  of  the  State.  This  consti- 
tutional constituency  is  entrusted  by  each  of  these  constitu- 
tions with  power  over  the  constitution  itself,  in  modifying 
or  changing  it,  and,  of  course,  in  modifying  or  changing  the 
organization  or  composition  of  the  constitutional  constitu- 
ency. This  constitutional  constituency  is  the  depositary  of 
the  highest  political  power  of  the  State.  Any  change  made 
in  the  Constitution  or  organization  of  the  State,  or  in  the 
composition  of  the  constitutional  constituency,  as  it  may  ex- 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  335 

ist  at  any  time,  without  the  concurrent  action  of  the  consti- 
tutional constituency  itself,  is  revolution :  it  is  disorganiza- 
tion ;  it  is  the  subversion  or  suppression  (as  it  may  prove 
permanent  or  temporary)  of  one  organization,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  any  other ;  it  is  the  abolition  (permanent  or  tem- 
porary) of  the  old  State,  and  the  introduction  of  a  new  one. 

Each  of  these  ten  States,  in  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
being  then  a  State,  had  a  Constitution  and  a  constitutional 
constituency  linked  back  by  unbroken  succession  to  the 
Constitution  and  constitutional  constituency  as  they  existed 
before  secession.  Secession  made  no  break  in  the  chain. 
The  provision  which  was  put  in  the  Constitution  at  the  time 
of  secession,  connecting  the  State  with  the  Confederate 
States,  instead  of  with  the  United  States,  as  its  Federal 
head,  is  wholly  immaterial  to  the  present  purpose.  On  the 
one  theory,  it  was  simply  void,  and  left  the  organization  of 
the  State,  the  Constitution,  and  the  constitutional  constit- 
uency intact.  On  the  other  theory,  being  valid,  it  modified, 
but  did  not  impair,  the  integrity  of  the  State  organization. 
All  this  follows  from,  or  rather  is  comprehended  in,  the  one 
proposition  that  these  ten  States  have  never  lost  their  char- 
acter as  States. 

Each  of  these  ten  States,  being  a  State  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  in  1865,  stands  now  de  jure,  just  as  it  stood  then,  un- 
less it  has,  since  that  time,  been  changed  by  the  action  of 
its  constitutional  constituency.  I  think  each  of  them  was 
so  changed  in  the  latter  part  of  that  same  year.  In  each 
of  them,  a  convention  was  elected  by  a  large  and  unques- 
tionable majority  of  the  constitutional  constituency  (al- 
though a  portion  of  them  were  excluded  from  voting)  for 
the  purpose  of  modifying  the  Constitution.  These  conven- 
tions repealed  the  ordinance  of  secession,  abolished  slavery, 
and  made  some  other  changes  in  the  several  Constitutions, 
but,  in  most  of  the  States,  left  the  constitutional  constit- 
uencies just  as  they  stood  before.  In  conformity  with  the 
Constitutions,  as  last  modified  by  those  conventions,  each 
of  the  States  was  speedily  provided  with  a  complete  gov- 
ernment, consisting  of  a  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
department.  It  was  by  the  Legislatures  thus  formed  that 
the  XHIth  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  abolishing  slavery,  was  ratified. 

Since  that  time,  no  change  has  been  made  in  the  organi- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

zation  of  any  of  these  States,  with  the  co-operation  or  con- 
currence of  the  constitutional  constituencies.  Only  very 
small  minorities  of  the  constitutional  constituencies  have 
co-operated  in  the  work  of  reconstruction.  It  is  a  notori- 
ous and  unquestionable  fact,  that  an  overwhelming- majority 
of  them,  in  each  of  the  States,  have  been  steadily  and  un- 
swervingly opposed  to  it,  and  have  voted  against  it,  when- 
ever they  have  voted  at  all. 

The  clear  result,  in  my  judgment,  is  that  each  of  these 
States  now  stands  dc  jure,  just  as  she  was  left  by  the  action 
of  her  convention  in  1865,  with  a  complete  government, 
formed  under  the  Constitution  of  that  year,  including  a 
Legislature  which  still  constitutionally  exists,  and  is  capa- 
ble of  assembling  any  day,  if  it  were  only  allowed  to  do  so 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  bayonet.  But  she  stands  dc  facto, 
suppressed  by  a  government  originated  and  imposed  on  her 
by  an  external  power,  and  supported  alone  by  the  bayonet. 
Such  a  government  is  the  embodiment  of  anti-republican- 
ism and  despotism.  Under  just  such  a  government,  Ire- 
land is  writhing  and  Poland  is  crushed. 

Is  it  not  now  demonstrated  that  the  bodies  which  ratified 
the  so-called  XlVth  and  XVth  amendments,  in  the  name 
of  these  ten  States,  were  the  revolutionary  products  of  ex- 
ternal force  and  fraud,  displacing  the  true  Legislatures  which 
alone  could  have  given  a  constitutional  ratification  ? 

The  so-called  amendments,  then,  have  been  neither  con- 
stitutionally proposed  nor  constitutionally  ratified.  How 
can  they  form  parts  of  the  Constitution  ? 

A  successful  answer  to  this  question  would  long  ago  have 
brought  that  peace  and  harmony  which  can  never  come 
from  might  overbearing  right.  Instead  of  giving  such  an 
answer,  the  authors  of  these  measures  have  sought  to 
drown  reason  and  argument  in  clamorous  charges  of  vio- 
lence and  revolution  against  the  victims,  not  the  perpetra- 
tors, of  those  crimes. 

But  an  answer  has  at  last  been  attempted  from  an  unex- 
pected quarter.  Strangely  enough,  it  comes  from  one 
who  has  greatly  distinguished  himself  by  the  vigor  and 
ability  with  which  he  has  denounced  the  whole  scheme  of 
reconstruction  as  a  revolutionary  usurpation  and  nullity; 
and,  still  more  strangely,  he  adheres  to  that  denunciation, 
while  now  arguing  that  these  so-called  amendments — the 


JUDGE   L1NTON   STEPHENS.  337 

creatures  and  culminating  points  of  that  reconstruction 
scheme — are  valid  parts  of  the  Constitution.  Such  a  con- 
clusion from  such  a  beginning !  And  yet,  he  is  hailed  by 
his  new  allies  as  a  very  Daniel  come  unto  judgment.  They 
were  in  a  sore  strait  for  an  argument. 

He  says  these  so-called  amendments  have  become  parts 
of  the  Constitution,  because  they  have  been  proclaimed  as 
such  by  the  power  which,  under  the  Constitution,  has.  the 
"jurisdiction"  to  proclaim  amendments. 

There  has  been  much  said,  sir,  about  issues  which  are 
"dead:"  surely  here  is  one  which  is  not  only  alive,  but 
very  lively.  Let  Americans  hear  and  mark  it:  The  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  can  be  changed — can  be  sub- 
verted— by  Presidential  proclamation  !  I  once  knew  a  man 
whose  motto  was,  that  a  lie,  well  told,  was  better  than  the 
truth,  because,  he  said,  truth  was  a  stubborn,  unmanagea- 
ble thing ;  but  a  lie,  in  the  hands  of  a  genius,  could  be 
fitted  exactly  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case ;  but  even  he 
admitted  that  the  lie  must  be  well  told,  or  it  would  not 
serve.  If  it  should  appear  to  be  a  lie,  it  would  be  turned 
from  a  thing  of  power  into  a  thing  for  contempt.  There 
has  been  progress,  sir,  since  that  man  taught.  It  is  now- 
discovered  that  a  known,  proven  lie  is  as  good  as  the  truth, 
provided  it  can  only  get  "  proclaimed  by  a  power  having 
"jurisdiction"  to  proclaim  it!  I,  sir,  know  of  no  power — 
either  on  the  earth,  or  above  it,  or  under  it — that  has  "ju- 
risdiction" to  "proclaim"  lies\  Nay,  sir,  I  know  of  no 
power  which  has  jurisdiction  to  proclaim  amendments  to 
the  Constitution.  According  to  my  reading  of  that  instru- 
ment, amendments  constitutionally  proposed  "shall  be 
valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths 
thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may 
be  proposed  by  the  Congress."  The  ratification  by  three- 
fourths  of  the  States,  acting  through  their  Legislatures  or 
their  conventions,  sets  the  seal  of  validity  on  the  amend- 
ment and  makes  it  a  part  of  the  Constitution.  Nothing 
else  can  do  it.  It  must  be  a  true  ratification  by  a  trite  Legis- 
lature, or  a  true  convention  of  the  State.  A  false  ratifica- 
tion by  a  true  Legislature  of  the  State  will  not  do.  A  true 
ratification  by  a  spurious  Legislature  will  not  do.  The  va- 


338  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

lidity  of  the  amendment,  and  its  authority  as  a  part  of  the 
Constitution,  are  made  to  depend  upon  the  historic  truth  of 
its  ratification  as  required  by  the  Constitution.  Proclama- 
tions of  falsehoods  from  Presidents,  or  from  anybody  else, 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject.  This  is  plain  doctrine, 
drawn  from  the  Constitution  itself.  The  validity  of  the 
Constitution,  in  all  its  parts,  depends  upon  the  facts  of  their 
history. 

But,  according  to  this  new  discovery,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  can  subvert  the  whole  Constitution,  and  make 
himself  a  legal  and  valid  autocrat,  by  simply  "  proclaiming  " 
that  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  to  that  effect  has 
been  proposed  by  two-thirds  of  each  house  of  Congress,  and 
ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  States, 
although  it  may  be  known  of  all  men  that  there  is  not  one 
word  of  truth  in  the  proclamation.  The  President  of  the 
United  States  can  legally  convert  himself  into  an  autocrat 
by  his  own  proclamation.  Theories  are  quickly  put  into 
practice  in  these  days.  Let  the  country  beware  ! 

We  are  also  told  by  this  new  Daniel,  not  only  that  the 
usurpation  has  become  obligatory  by  its  success,  but  there 
is  no  hope  of  getting  rid  of  it ;  for  he  says  it  cannot  be 
changed  without  another  amendment,  ratified  by  three- 
fourths  of  the  States,  and  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  get- 
ting these  three-fourths.  Wonderful !  Why,  he  himself 
has  taught  us  that  the  whole  thing  may  be  accomplished  by 
a  Presidential  proclamation.  We  have  only  to  elect  a  Dem- 
ocratic President,  and  let  him  ' '  proclaim  "  that  a  new  amend- 
ment, abolishing  the  XlVth  and  XVth,  has  been  duly  pro- 
posed and  duly  ratified,  and  the  thing  is  done.  That,  sir, 
would  be  the  way  taught  by  this  new  light;  but  it  would 
never  be  my  wyay.  I  do  not  propose  to  walk  in  the  ways  of 
falsehood:  I  prefer  truth,  because  it  is  nobler  and  grander. 
I  believe,  also,  that,  when  it  is  supported  by  true  and  bold 
men,  it  is  always  more  powerful.  My  way  would  be  to  elect 
a  Democratic  President,  and  let  him  treat  the  usurpation  as 
a  usurpation  and  a  nullity,  and  let  him  withdraw  the  bayonet 
and  "proclaim"  that  the  revolutionary  governments  in 
these  ten  States  would  not  be  supported  by  him,  but  that 
the  constitutional  republican  governments  which  now  exist 
here  would  be  left  free  to  rise  from  their  state  of  forcible 
repression,  and  do  their  natural  and  legitimate  work  of  true 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  339 

restoration,  real  peace,  sincere  and  cordial  fraternity.  The 
whole  problem  is  solved  by  the  simple  withdrawal  oi  the 
bayonet. 

I  have  now  shown  that  the  XlVth  and  XVth  amendments 
do  not  form  any  part  of  the  Constitution,  and  thus  have 
made  good  my  first  position,  that  the  whole  Enforcement 
act,  which  depends  solely  upon  them  for  its  validity,  is  not 
a  law,  but  merely  a  legal  nullity. 

My  second  position  is  that,  even  if  the  so-called  XlVth 
and  XVth  amendments  were  valid,  yet  all  those  parts  of 
the  Enforcement  act,  claimed  as  applicable  to  my  case,  arc 
utterly  "outside"  of  them,  and  (being  confessedly  outside 
of  the  Constitution,  apart  from  them)  are  unconstitutional, 
and  not  binding  as  law. 

The  XlVth  amendment,  and  the  small  part  of  the  En- 
forcement act  relating  to  it,  have  no  relevancy  to  this  pros- 
ecution, and  I  shall  say  nothing  further  about  them. 

Those  parts  of  the  act,  claimed  as  applicable  to  my  case, 
rest  solely  upon  the  XVth  for  their  validity;  and,  in  order 
to  see  whether  they  are  outside  of  it  or  not,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  know  what  are  the  terms  and  extent  of  the 
amendment. 

The  effect  of  its  terms  is  strangely  misapprehended.  It 
seems  to  be  regarded  as  a  thing  which,  by  its  terms,  secures 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  negro,  and  empowers  Congress 
to  enforce  that  right.  This  is  a  total  and  most  dangerous 
mistake.  Here  is  the  amendment ;  it  is  not  longer  than  the 
first  joint  of  my  little  finger: 

"SECTION  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States 
to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States, 
or  by  any  State,  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  con- 
dition of  servitude. 

"SEC.  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation." 

This  is  the  whole  of  it.  Now,  sir,  I  defy  refutation,  when 
I  affirm  that,  by  these  terms,  the  right  of  suffrage  is  not 
conferred  upon,  nor  secured  to,  any  person  or  class  of  per- 
sons whomsoever.  The  whole  is  simply  a  prohibition  on 
the  United  States,  and  the  several  States.  The  United 
States,  in  legislating  for  the  District  of  Columbia  or  a  Ter- 


34O  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

ritory,  and  the  several  States,  in  regulating  their  suffrage, 
each  for  herself,  are  prohibited  from  denying  it  to  anybody, 
or  abridging  its  exercise  on  either  one  of  the  three  grounds — 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude — but  are  left 
perfectly  free  to  abridge  it  or  deny  it  on  any  other  ground 
whatsoever — sex,  female  or  male,  ignorance  or  intelligence, 
poverty  or  wealth,  crime  or  virtue,  or  any  other  of  an  in- 
numerable multitude  of  other  grounds.  In  point  of  fact, 
the  right  is  denied,  both  by  the  United  States  and  by  each 
one  of  the  several  States,  on  many  of  these  other  grounds, 
and  the  denial  is  enforced  under  heavy  penalties,  not  only 
by  the  laws  of  the  States,  but  by  this  very  Enforcement  act 
itself.  To  say  that  the  right  is  conferred  on  or  secured  to 
anybody,  because  it  cannot  be  denied  for  any  one  or  all  of 
three  reasons  out  of  an  indefinite  number  of  possible  and 
usual  reasons,  is  simply  absurd.  As  well  say  that  a  plat  of 
ground  is  fenced  or  secured  from  intrusion  by  putting  a  wall 
on  one  of  its  many  sides,  leaving  all  the  other  sides  perfectly 
open.  A  right  is  not  conferred  or  secured  by  a  law  when 
it  can  be  denied  without  a  violation  of  that  law. 

This  brings  me  to  the  crucial  test  of  my  second  position. 
Whether  I  have  violated  any  provisions  of  the  Enforcement 
act  or  not,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  I  have  not  violated  the 
XVth  amendment.  It  is  affirmatively  proven,  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  two  prosecutors  in  this  case — the  two  negro 
managers  of  election — that  I  did  not  object  to,  or  in  any 
manner  interfere  with,  any  vote  on  the  ground  of  either 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  It  is  mani- 
fest, then,  that  if  I  have  violated  any  part  or  parts  of  the 
Enforcement  act,  such  part  or  parts  are  "outside"  of  the 
amendment,  and  unauthorized  by  it,  since  I  have  not  vio- 
lated the  amendment  itself.  I  have  not  violated  the  amend- 
ment, even  if  its  prohibition  reached  private  citizens,  instead 
of  being  confined,  as  it  plainly  is,  to  the  United  States  and 
the  States  severally. 

The  truth  is,  that  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Enforcement 
act  is  "outside"  of  the  amendments  which  it  professes  to 
enforce.  This  act  presents  another  live  and  very  lively  issue 
to  the  people  of  this  country;  and  already  are  the  thunders 
of  opposition  heard  from  Republican  as  well  as  from  Dem- 
ocratic quarters.  Under  the  pretense  of  restraining  the 
United  States  and  the  several  States  from  denying  or  abridg- 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  34! 

ing  the  right  of  suffrage  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition  of  servitude,  this  act  takes  control  of  the 
general  and  local  elections  in  all  the  States — seizing  the 
whole  political  power  of  the  country,  and  wielding  it  by  the 
bayonet ;  and  fills  up  pages  of  the  statute-book  with  new 
offenses  and  heavy  penalties  leveled,  not  against  the  United 
States  or  the  several  States,  or  their  officers,  by  whom  alone 
the  XVth  amendment  can  possibly  be  violated,  but  against 
private  citizens.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  acts,  which,  by 
the  power  of  their  recoil,  exterminated  their  authors,  were 
not  equal  to  this  act,  either  in  the  nakedness  or  the  danger 
of  their  usurpation.  If  this  act  shall  prevail  and  abide  as 
law,  then  our  heritage  of  local  self-government,  lost  to  us, 
will  pass  into  history,  and  there  stand  out  forever  a  glory 
to  the  noble  sires  who  wrung  it  from  one  tyranny,  and  a 
shame  to  the  degenerate  sons  who  surrendered  it  to  another. 

My  third  and  last  position  is,  that  even  if  the  Enforce- 
ment act  were  valid  in  all  its  parts,  yet  I  have  not  violated 
any  one  of  them.  I  am  accused  under  its  fifth  and  nine- 
teenth sections. 

The  fifth  provides  a  penalty  against  "preventing,  hinder- 
ing, controlling,  or  intimidating,  or  attempting  to  prevent, 
hinder,  control,  or  intimidate,"  any  person  from  voting,  "to 
whom  the  right  of  suffrage  is  secured  or  guaranteed  by  the 
XVth  amendment."  I  have  already  demonstrated  that  the 
XVth  amendment  secures  or  guarantees  the  right  of  suffrage 
to  nobody  whomsoever.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  that  I 
am,  or  that  anybody  ever  can  be,  guilty  under  that  section. 

But  again :  The  testimony  utterly  fails  to  show  that  I  in- 
terfered in  any  way  with  the  voting  of  any  person  legally 
entitled  to  vote,  or,  indeed,  with  the  voting  of  any  person 
whomsoever.  It  was  incumbent  upon  the  prosecution  to 
show  what  persons,  if  any,  and  that  they  were  persons  en- 
titled to  vote.  The  Enforcement  act  itself  inflicts  a  penalty 
on  all  persons  who  vote  illegally,  and,  of  course,  cannot  in- 
tend to  punish  the  prevention  or  hindrance  of  illegal  voting. 
The  attempted  proof,  as  to  my  interference  with  voters,  re- 
lates to  four  persons  only.  It  fails  to  show  that  either  one 
of  the  four  was  a  person  entitled  to  vote ;  it  fails  to  show 
that  three  of  them  did  not  actually  vote ;  it  fails  to  show- 
that  any  one  of  them  offered  to  vote  or  even  desired  to  do 


342  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

so;  it  fails  to  show  that  any  one  of  them  heard  me  make  a 
single  remark,  saw  me  do  a  single  act,  or  was  even  in  my 
presence  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  three  days' 
election. 

As  to  the  remark  which  I  made  to  a  small  crowd,  about 
prosecuting  all  who  should  vote  without  having  paid  their 
taxes,  I  have  this  to  say :  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  shown 
who  composed  that  crowd,  nor  that  a  single  one  of  them 
was  a  person  entitled  to  vote.  In  the  next  place,  the  re- 
mark was  a  lawful  one;  for  it  was  simply  the  declaration  of 
an  intention,  not  to  interfere  with  legal  voters,  but  to  prose- 
cute criminals;  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  tortured  into  a 
threat  in  any  legal  or  criminal  sense  of  that  word.  A  threat, 
to  be  criminal,  must  be  the  declaration  of  an  intention  to 
do  some  unlawful  act;  and  it  never  can  be  unlawful  to  ap- 
peal to  the  laws. 

I  pass  to  the  charge,  under  the  nineteenth  section,  that  I 
interfered  with  the  managers  of  election  in  the  discharge  ot 
their  duties,  by  causing  their  arrest  under  judicial  warrant. 
That  part  of  the  nineteenth  section  which  is  invoked  against 
me  is  in  these  words :  "Or  interfere  in  any  manner  with  any 
officer  of  said  elections  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties." 

My  first  answer  to  this  charge  is,  that  the  managers  were 
arrested,  not  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  but  in  the  vio- 
lation of  one  of  the  most  important  of  them — one  prescribed, 
not  only  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  but  by  this  very 
Enforcement  act  itself:  for  the  act  made  it  their  duty  to  re- 
ject all  illegal  votes,  and  provided  a  penalty  for  receiving 
them.  These  managers  had  received,  and  were  still  receiv- 
ing, the  votes  of  persons  who  had  not  paid  their  taxes  01 
the  year  next  preceding  the  election,  as  required  by  the 
Constitution  of  this  State.  The  testimony  shows  that  this 
fact  was  fully  proven,  and  not  denied  by  them,  on  the  com- 
mitment trial  before  the  magistrate.  The  reply  to  it  then 
was,  and  now  is,  not  a  denial,  but  a  justification,  on  two 
grounds:  one  of  these  grounds  was,  that  the  oath  which 
they  had  taken,  under  the  Akerman  Election  act,  required 
them  to  let  every  person  vote  who  was  of  apparent  full  age, 
was  a  resident  of  the  county,  and  had  not  previously  voted 
in  that  election.  They  said  then,  and  it  is  now  said  again 
here,  that  they  could  not  inquire  into  the  non-payment  of 
taxes,  or  any  other  Constitutional  qualification  for  voting, 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  343 

except  only  non-age,  non-residence,  and  previous  voting  in 
that  election ;  and  yet,  a  man  who  was  of  full  age,  and  a 
resident  of  the  county,  and  who  had  not  previously  voted, 
was  excluded  by  these  same  managers  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  a  convicted  felon.  Their  own  action  in  excluding 
the  felon  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  their  construction  of 
the  obligation  of  their  oath.  The  oath,  as  construed  by 
them,  and  now  coustrued  here  by  the  prosecuting  attorney, 
is  in  plain  conflict  with  the  Constitution,  and  is,  therefore, 
void,  and  could  not  relieve  them  from  their  Constitutional 
duty  to  exclude  all  who  had  not  paid  their  taxes.  The  first 
ground  of  the  managers'  justification,  therefore,  fails. 

Their  other  ground  was,  that  the  unpaid  tax  of  those 
whom  they  had  allowed  to  vote  without  payment  of  taxes 
was  only  poll-tax,  and  that  the  poll-tax  had  been  declared 
by  the  Legislature  to  be  illegal  and  unwarranted  by  the  Con- 
stitution, and  its  further  collection  suspended. 

The  fact  that  it  was  only  poll-tax  does  not  appear  from 
the  evidence  before  your  honor,  but  I  admit  it  to  be  true. 
I  did  not  come  here  to  quibble:  I  am  here  to  justify  my 
conduct  under  the  laiv,  on  the  truth  as  it  exists,  whether 
proven  here  or  not.  My  answer  is,  that  this  declaratory 
act  of  the  Legislature  is  false,  unconstitutional,  null  and 
void.  The  act  is  but  the  opinion  of  the  Legislature,  con- 
cerning the  constitutionality  of  a  previous  act  of  1869,  im- 
posing the  poll-tax  of  that  year.  That  act  is  before  me, 
imposing  a  poll-tax  of  one  dollar  per  head  "for  educational 
purposes,"  using  the  very  words  which  are  used  by  the  Con- 
stitution itself  in  defining  the  purpose  for  which  poll-taxes 
may  be  imposed.  Now,  sir,  the  question  which  I  ask  is, 
What  is  it  that  makes  tins  act  "illegal"  or  unwarranted  by 
the  Constitution?  Surely  it  is  not  made  so  by  the  subse- 
quent declaration  of  the  Legislature,  put  forth  just  before 
the  election,  to  serve  a  palpable,  fraudulent,  party  purpose. 

The  Legislature  is  not  a  court ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
is  expressly  prohibited  by  the  Constitution  from  exercising 
judicial  functions,  and  its  declarations  concerning  the  con- 
stitutionality of  legislative  acts  have  no  more  authority 
than  those  of  private  citizens.  The  single  question,  then, 
is  whether  the  declaration  in  this  case  is  true.  The  Legis- 
lature assigned  its  reason  for  the  opinion  it  gave.  What  is 
that  reason  ?  It  is,  that  the  Constitution  limits  the  imposi- 


344  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

tion  of  poll-taxes  to  educational  purposes ;  and  that  when 
the  poll-tax  in  question  was  imposed,  there  was  no  system 
of  common  schools  or  educational  purpose  to  which  it  could 
be  applied.  Therefore,  they  said  its  imposition  was  "ille- 
gal and  unwarranted  by  the  Constitution."  They  said  it 
was  unwarranted  by  the  Constitution  to  provide  the  money 
before  organizing  the  schools  to  which  the  money  was  to 
be  applied;  that  is  to  say,  the  only  constitutional  way  to 
organize  the  schools  was  to  go  in  debt  for  them  !  I  lack 
words,  sir,  to  properly  characterize  the  silliness  of  this  reason. 
But,  curiously  enough,  the  Constitution  itself  took  the 
very  course  which  these  sapient  legislators  declared  to  be 
illegal  and  unwarranted  by  the  Constitution.  It  provided 
money  and  devoted  it  to  these  very  common  schools,  which 
were  still  in  the  womb  of  the  future  at  the  time  of  its  adop- 
tion. It  dedicated  to  that  purpose  the  whole  educational 
fund  which  was  then  on  hand.  Therefore,  I  say,  this  de- 
claratory act  is  not  only  false,  but  is  in  the  very  teeth  of  the 
Constitution  itself.  Mark  you,  sir:  it  did  not  repeal,  nor 
attempt  to  repeal,  the  poll-tax:  it  only  suspended  its  collec- 
tion. But,  I  say,  if  it  had  been  a  repeal  in  terms,  instead 
of  a  mere  suspension,  it  could  not  change  the  case  as  to  the 
right  of  a  person  to  vote  without  having  paid  the  tax.  The 
constitutional  requirement  is,  that  "he  shall  have  paid  all 
taxes  which  may  have  been  required  of  him,  and  which  he 
may  have  had  an  opportunity  of  paying  agreeably  to  law 
for  the  year  next  preceding  the  election."  The  poll-tax 
was  required  in  April,  1869,  and  continued  to  be  required 
up  to  the  passage  of  the  aforesaid  false  declaratory  act  in 
October,  1870 — a  year  and  a  half.  During  all  that  period, 
tax-payers  had  "opportunity"  to  pay  it.  On  the  day  of 
election,  then,  any  man  who  had  not  paid  his  poll-tax  for 
1869  stood  in  the  position  of  not  having  paid  a  tax  which 
had  been  required  of  him,  and  which  he  had  had  very  many 
opportunities  of  paying  agreeably  to  law.  He  stood  clearly 
within  the  letter  of  the  constitutional  disqualification  for 
voting.  He  stood  also  within  its  reason  and  spirit,  for  its 
true  intention  was  to  discriminate  against  the  citizen  who 
should  not  have  discharged  a  public  duty  for  the  year  next 
preceding  the  election.  Nothing  but  payment  could  remove 
from  him  the  character  of  a  public  delinquent.  Legislative 
remission  of  the  tax  cannot  serve  the  purpose,  for  he  still 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  345 

stands,  after  that,  as  a  man  who  has  failed  in  a  public  duty. 
The  most  that  can  be  said  for  him  is,  that  after  the  repeal, 
the  tax  ceased  to  be  required  of  him ;  but  the  only  material 
facts — that  //  had  been  required,  and  could  have  been  paid, 
but  had  not  been  paid — remain  unaltered. 

The  managers,  then,  in  receiving  the  votes  of  persons  who 
had  not  paid  their  poll-tax  were  not  in  "the  discharge  of 
their  duties. "  Whether  they  tJiougJit  so  is  not  the  question. 
If  they  were  really  wrong,  then  I  was  rigJit ;  and  surely  I 
am  not  to  be  punished  for  being  right.  There  was  no  inter- 
ference with  them  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 

But  again :  even  if  I  were  wrong  in  the  opinion  which  I 
entertained  of  their  duty,  yet  I  did  not  interfere  with  them 
unlawfully.  The  whole  context  of  that  clause,  in  the  nine- 
teenth section,  under  which  I  am  accused,  shows  that  the 
interference  contemplated  is  an  unlawful  interference — es- 
pecially the  words  which  come  immediately  after  it:  "Or 
by  any  of  such  means  or  ot/ter  unlawful  means,"  etc.  This 
word  "other"  shows,  conclusively,  that  all  the  means  con- 
templated were  only  such  as  were  of  an  unlawful  character. 
This  would  be  implied  in  construing  any  penal  statute,  even 
if  it  were  not  expressed  ;  for  the  universal  rule  of  construc- 
tion for  penal  statutes  is  to  construe  strictly  against  the 
prosecution,  and  liberally  in  favor  of  the  accused.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  any  judge  can  have  the  hardihood  to  hold  that  it 
was  the  intention  of  this  Enforcement  act  to  impart  to  man- 
agers of  election  the  sacred  character  of  Eastern  Brahmins, 
making  them  too  holy  to  be  touched  even  for  their  crimes? 
Surely  it  was  not  intended  to  give  them  greater  sanctity 
than  belongs  to  peers  of  the  British  Parliament,  or  to  legis- 
lators in  our  own  country,  while  engaged  in  legislation. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  high  privileges  accorded  to  them, 
all  of  these  are  subject  to  arrest  in  any  place,  at  any  mo- 
ment, under  a  warrant  charging  breach  of  the  peace  or  fel- 
ony. Was  it  intended  to  protect  these  managers  from  im- 
mediate accountability  for  all  felonies  which  they  might 
commit  during  three  whole  days?  Until  this  shall  be  held 
as  the  intention  of  the  Enforcement  act,  it  is  impossible  to 
maintain  that  I  have  violated  it  in  any  particular  whatever. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  "the  right  of  the  citizen 
to  appeal  to  the  courts  shall  never  be  impaired. "  My  whole 
offense,  sir,  is  this — that  I  appealed  to  a  court  of  competent 

32 


346  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OK 

jurisdiction!  I  devoutly  believed  that  I  was  right  in  my 
opinion  of  the  law.  I  believe  so  now;  but,  whether  I  was 
right  or  wrong  in  my  opinion,  who  will  dare  to  say  that  I 
was  wrong  in  testing  that  opinion — not  by  the  strong  hand, 
but  by  appealing  to  a  court  appointed  by  the  Constitution 
for  the  very  purpose  of  deciding  the  question  ?  That  court 
decided  that  I  was  right;  and  the  "interference"  which 
followed,  sir,  was  the  interference,  not  of  myself,  but  of  the 
lau1,  as  expounded  and  administered  by  a  judicial  tribunal. 
Moreover,  sir,  the  decision  of  that  tribunal  stands  as  the 
law  of  the  case  until  it  shall  be  reversed  according  to  law. 
These  managers  were  charged  with  felony  under  the  laws 
of  this  State.  Was  it  a  crime  for  me  to  seek  a  judicial  in- 
quiry into  the  truth  or  probability  of  such  a  charge?  I 
suspect,  sir,  that  my  real  crime,  in  the  estimation  of  my 
prosecutors,  is,  that  the  judicial  interposition  invoked  by 
me  had  the  effect  of  preventing  numerous  repetitions  of  a 
crime  which  would  have  done  signal  service  to  their  political 
party. 

If  angry  power  demands  a  sacrifice  from  those  who  have 
thwarted  its  fraudulent  purposes,  1  feel  honored,  sir,  in 
being  selected  as  the  victim.  If  my  suffering  could  arouse 
my  countrymen  to  a  just  and  lofty  indignation  against  the 
despotism  which,  in  attacking  me,  is  but  assailing  law, 
order,  and  constitutional  government,  I  would  not  shrink 
from  the  sacrifice,  though  my  blood  should  be  required  in- 
stead of  my  liberty ! 

The  doctrine  of  constitutional  popular  liberty,  so  truly 
and  so  boldly  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  speech,  has,  since 
its  delivery,  been  indorsed  in  an  exhaustive  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  That  decision  is  but 
the  commentary  whereof  this  speech  is  the  text. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  stupidity  of  the  commissioner,  and 
the  madness  of  the  times,  to  add  that  Judge  Stephens  was 
committed  to  answer  the  alleged  charge  before  the  United 
States  District  Court,  at  Savannah.  He  gave  bond  and 
security,  voluntarily  and  eagerly  tendered  to  an  hundred 
fold  over  the  amount  nominated  in  the  bond.  The  grand 
jury,  in  the  Federal  court,  ignored  the  charge,  and  there 
the  infamous  prosecution  was  dropped. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  347 

[From  A.  H.  S.  to  L.  S.  ] 

CRAWFORDVILLE,  January  27,  1871. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  just  received,  by  the  express, 
your  letter  of  yesterday.  I  was  exceedingly  interested  in 
reading  it,  and  was  highly  gratified  at  the  whole.  Your 
reporter  must  have  been  my  friend  McGuire.  I  was,  as  I 
told  you  before,  not  disappointed  at  the  result  at  all ;  and 
I  repeat,  I  think  the  ultimate  result  will  not  only  add  vastly 
to  your  already  high  reputation,  but  do  an  immense  deal  of 
good  for  the  cause  of  truth,  right,  and  the  sound  principles 
of  government.  The  popular  mind  needs  an  awakening 
up.  Particular  cases  have  always  been  the  immediate  occa- 
sion of  all  past  similar  awakenings,  and,  perhaps,  ever  will 
be.  Most  fortunate  it  is  for  any  man,  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
his  fame  and  distinction,  to  be  the  one  prominent  in  the 
case  of  the  awakening 

The  people  everywhere  look  upon  it,  I  think,  as  the 
greatest  thing  you  ever  did.  As  to  the  newspapers,  they 
really  do  not  understand  it ;  they  measure  the  merits  of  a 
production  of  this  sort  by  the  extravagance  of  opprobrious 
words  and  epithets  it  contains.  I  speak  of  our  editors  in 
the  main.  There  are  some  exceptions,  but  many  of  them 
don't  know  where  they  stand.  Their  instincts  are  right, 
but  they  need  an  awakening  up.  It  is  fortunate  you  made 

the  speech  when  and  where  you  did — in  Macon 

I  do  hope  you  will,  just  as  soon  as  you  get  through  with 
your  speech,  bring  it  over.  You  can  go  back  the  same 
night  if  you  wish,  but  I  shall  expect  you  to  stay  one  night, 
at  least.  Make  the  preparation  of  this  speech  your  first 
business,  and  get  through  with  it  as  soon  as  you  can  with- 
out hurrying  the  mind:  let  that  act,  at  all  times,  in  free 
play.  I  have  some  ideas  of  my  own  about  the  case,  which, 
I  suppose,  you  have  presented  ;  but,  lest  you  may  not  have 
done  so,  I  wish  to  give  them  to  you  to  use  in  your  note,  or 
otherwise,  as  you  may  think  proper,  if  you  approve.  I 
have  no  apprehensions  whatever  of  a  conviction  ;  but  if  that 
should  take  place,  so  much  the  better  for  you  in  respect  to 
present,  as  well  as  future,  true  honor,  fame,  and  glory. 
Love  to  all 

Judge  Stephens  rarely  appeared  'for  the  prosecution  of 
any  case  in  the  courts  affecting  life.  <(  Blood-money, "  as 


34(<!  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

it  has  been  not  inaptly  called,  he  did  not  covet;  but  in  the 
case  referred  to  in  the  .succeeding  letter,  he  would  have 
taken  a  fee,  it  it  had  been  offered  him  before  he  was  retained 
for  the  defense.  Although  the  slain,  in  this  instance,  was 
his  friend,  no  rule  of  professional  ethics  would  allow  him  to 
refuse  his  services,  previously  applied  for,  to  the  slayer,  who 
was  likewise  his  friend: 

SPARTA,  July  28,  1871. 

DR.  S.  (i.  WHITE — My  Dear  Sir:  When  I  got  home  from 
the  North,  on  the  1 6th  instant,  I  found  your  letter  of  the 
4th,  in  behalf  of  the  mother,  sisters,  and  brother  of  Captain 
Lewis  H.  Kenan,  asking  me  to  represent  the  prosecution 
lor  his  homicide  against  J.  R.  Strother.  1  had  to  go  right 
off,  next  morning,  to  Wilkes  court  to  defend  a  man  charged 
with  murder;  and  when  I  got  back  from  there,  I  had  to  go 
into  an  adjourned  court,  which  is  still  sitting  here. 

J  have  the  opportunity  to  answer  you  to-day  only  because 
1  am  too  sick  to  be  in  the  court-house.  Indeed,  1  am  so 
sick  that  I  am  availing  myself,  as  you  see,  of  an  amanuen- 
sis. I  got  a  telegram  at  Boston,  on  the  5th  instant,  from 
Obadiah  Arnold,  requesting  me  to  appear  in  the  defense  of 
this  same  prosecution.  Acting  on  my  uniform  rule  of  de 
fending  any  accused  person  who  applied  to  me,  to  the  ex- 
Unit,  at  least,  of  seeing  that  he  had  a  legal  trial — provided 
he  secures  me  a  reasonable  fee,  looking  to  the  nature  of  the 
case  and  his  ability  to  pay — I  responded  to  Arnold  that  1 
would  appear  for  the  defense.  Such  was  my  engagement 
eleven  days  before  I  got  your  message. 

I  take  this  occasion  to  say,  that  I  presume  the  mother, 
sisters,  and  brother  of  Lewis  know,  as  you  do,  that  he  was 
rny  friend,  and  that  I  was  his.  I  was  great!}'  pained  at  the 
news  of  his  death,  and  do  most  deeply  lament  the  event  and 
the  manner  of  it.  I  assure  you  and  them  that  1  shall  do 
nothing  in  the  defense  beyond  my  convictions  of  duty ;  and 
the  extent  to  which  I  may  be  carried  by  my  views  of  duty 
will  depend  upon  the  developments  in  the  case. 

1  trust  that  my  position  in  this  case  will  not,  as  it  ought 
not  to  do,  cause  the  slightest  interruption  of  cordial  rela- 
tions between  myself  and  those  most  attached  to  my  la- 
mented friend.  Yours,  very  truly, 

LINTON  STEPHENS. 


JUDGE    I.INTON    STEPHENS.  349 

[  From  L.  S.  to  Colonel  Herbert  Fielder.  ] 

SPARTA,  July  29,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — The  night  after  receiving  your  very  sug- 
gestive letter,  in  relation  to  the  proper  course  to  be  pursued 
by  the  South,  I  was  suddenly  seized  with  bilious  dysentery. 
I  am  now  getting  better,  and,  therefore,  will  not  delay  my 
answer;  but  I  am  not  yet  at  all  well,  and,  therefore,  my  an- 
swer must  be  brief. 

There  is  great  force  in  your  views,  and  they  are  on  the 
line  of  wisdom,  in  my  judgment,  as  they  certainly  are  on 
the  line  of  honor  and  courage,  in  the  judgment  of  all  hon- 
orable and  brave  men.  There  is  a  great  deal,  however,  in 
the  name  which  is  given  to  a  thing — in  the  mode  of  putting 
a  case.  Mr.  Calhoun,  for  instance,  killed  the  most  salutary 
doctrine  of  nullification  by  calling  it  nullification.  That  name 
gave  rise  to  the  great  popular  outcry  against  the  arrogance 
of  a  single  State  nullifying^,  law  passed  by  all  the  rest.  The 
popular  voice  might  have  been  secured  in  its  favor,  if  he 
had  only  called  it  the  State  veto :  then  the  idea  would  have 
impinged  upon  the  popular  brain  and  heart  in  tins  form  : 
The  vice  of  all  governments  \se.rcess;  the  whole  philoso- 
phy of  good  government  consists  in  checks,  which  render  the 
passage  of  laws  difficult.  Hence  the  beauty  and  utility  of 
dividing  the  powers  of  government  among  tJirce  co-ordinate 
and  co-equal  departments.  A  logical  adherence  to  the  rea- 
son of  this  division,  or  to  the  division  as  it  is  actually  made 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  would  lead  inevi- 
tably to  the  true  and  sound  conclusion  that  nothing  can  ac- 
quire the  force  of  law,  and  be  executed  ^^  such,  unless  the 
legislative  and  executive  departments,  in  all  cases,  and  the 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  departments,  in  most 
cases,  shall  concur  in  the  constitutionality  of  the  measure. 
Each  department  must  be  governed  by  its  own  convictions 
of  the  law,  and  dares  not  to  subordinate  its  own  views  of 
the  Constitution,  which  is  the  highest  law,  to  the  views  of 
any  other  department,  nor  to  the  concurrent  views  of  the 
other  two  departments.  Whenever  occasion  comes  for 
either  department  to  act  on  the  law,  it  must  necessarily  act 
on  its  own  constructions  of  the  law.  This  is  a  very  familiar 
doctrine  when  applied  to  the  courts ;  but  it  is  equally  sound 
and  important  when  applied  to  the  legislative,  the  executive. 


35O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

and  to  the  citizen.  The  right  and  the  duty  to  judge  of  the 
law  belong  to  all  alike,  and,  in  the  case  of  all,  rest  upon  the 
very  same  foundation — the  necessity  of  the  case:  it  cannot 
be  otherwise.  The  rule  of  conduct  for  everybody  is  the  law, 
and  nobody  can  pursue  the  rule  until  he  first  determines 
what  the  law  is.  There  is,  to  be  sure,  a  marked  peculiarity 
in  the  instance  of  the  citizen:  while  he,  like  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  government,  must  act  on  his  own  convictions 
of  the  law,  when  he  acts  at  all,  yet  he  takes  the  risk  of  hav- 
ing his  views  of  the  law  overruled  by  the  tribunal  appointed 
to  determine  and  administer  the  law  between  him  and  any- 
body else  with  whom  he  may  have  an  issue.  So  he  may 
suffer  in  his  person,  as  well  as  in  his  property,  for  views 
which  the  appointed  tribunal  may  hold  to  be  wron^.  The 
departments  of  government  are  subject  to  this  risk  in  an 
essentially  modified  and  much  more  limited  degree.  The 
individuals  who  fill  them  are  subject,  politically  only,  to  the 
high  court  of  impeachment;  and  there,  the  punislimcnt  ex- 
tends only  to  removal  from  office  and  disqualification  for 
office.  This  idea  of  equality  and  independence  of  the  three 
departments  of  government  is  not  well  understood;  but  it 
is,  nevertheless,  true,  &&&  fundamentally  important.  It  is  a 
great  error  to  suppose,  as  is  supposed  by  the  small  party 
leaders  of  this  day,  that  the  Supreme  Court  is  appointed  as 
an  expounder  of  the  Constitution  for  the  other  departments : 
there  is  nothing  like  this  in  the  Constitution.  The  Supreme 
Court  decides  cases  in  law  and  equity;  and  even  its  judg- 
ments in  particular  "cases,"  like  those  of  all  otlicr  courts, 
are  void,  if  outside  of  '^jurisdiction.  If  the  Supreme  Court 
were  to  adjudge  a  man  to  be  hung  for  killing  another  in  a 
private  quarrel,  nobody  would  think  of  respecting  the  judg- 
ment. It  was  on  this  idea  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  fully  just- 
ified in  turning  out  the  prisoners  who  were  under  sentence 
for  violating  the  infamous  Alien  and  Sedition  acts.  The 
courts  which  pronounced  the  sentences  had  no  jurisdiction. 
The  acts  conferred  it  in  terms;  but  the}'  were  null  in  effect. 
Nor  is  there  any  mischief,  or  rebellion,  or  revolution  in  this 
doctrine;  on  the  contrarv,  there  is  nothing  but  the  great 
blessedness  of  triple  security  against  the  vice  of  all  govern- 
ments— excess.  If  I  seem  to  have  wandered  from  my  sub- 
ject, the  wandering  is  only  seeming — not  real :  I  have  only 
been  developing  one  very  important  branch  of  a  very  large 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  351 

and  important  idea — the  idea  of  checks  on  government.  A 
people  who  are  content,  that  the  veto  of  one  man  shall  pre- 
vent a  measure  from  becoming  a  law,  certainly  could  not 
be  greatly  shocked  if  the  veto  of  a  great  sovereign  State 
should  have  the  'same  effect — the  effect  of  not  nullifying  la\v, 
but  of  preventing  measures  from  having  the  validity  of  law. 
My  illustration  of  the  importance  of  nomenclature,  and 
the  mode  of  putting  things,  has  run  into  great  length ;  but  I 
beg  you  to  excuse  its  length  for  the  sake  of  its  importance. 
Now,  allow  me  to  throw  your  idea  into  a  different  form — 
to  put  it  in  a  new  mode :  /  should  say  the  South  ought  to 
take  an  immovable  stand  against  all  "  new  departures  "  from 
the  true  principles  of  the  Constitution,  as  seen  in  the  time- 
honored  creeds  of  ALL  STATE-RIGHT  parties,  and  as  embodied 
and  applied  to  the  facts  of  the  situation,  in  the  New  York 
platform  of  the  Democratic  party.  One  of  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  is,  that  all  usurpations,  all  assumptions  of  pow- 
ers not  delegated,  all  frauds,  are  NULLITIES,  not  laivs ;  and 
'when  such  acts  assail  and  suppress,  or  repress,  constitutional 
governments  in  the  States,  they  are  also  " revolutionary" 
and  literally  treasonable,  if  enforced  by  arms.  This  is  liter- 
ally "  levying  war  against  the  United  States  " — just  as  much 
so  as  if  the  British  army  were  to  attack  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;  and  when  war  is  levied  against  any  part  of  the 
United  States,  by  a  citizen  of  any  State,  he  is  a  literal  traitor 
against  the  United  States.  The  South  should  not  co-operate 
with  any  party  which  refuses  to  stand  by  the  State-rights 
creed,  which  is  now  to  be  found  embodied  and  organized  no- 
where but  in  the  time-honored  and  unchanged  creed  of  the 
Democratic  party.  The  departurists  themselves  have  taken 
a  name  which  ought  to  damn  them,  and  will  damn  them,  if 
skillfully  used  by  the  true  and  bold  men.  Theirs  is  the  blun- 
der of  secession  over  again.  We  want  no  secessions — no 
departures — but  we  want,  in  a  superlative  degree,  not  a  divi- 
sion, but  a  concentration,  of  all  the  constitutional  forces  in 
a  grand  effort  to  prevent  the  war  which  was  waged  for  the 
presentation  of  our  system  of  government  from  being  con- 
verted into  a  false  and  fraudulent  pretext  for  overthrowing 
it.  Whether  I  have  worried  you  or  not,  I  have  at  least 
wearied  out  myself,  and  must  close.  I  would  be  very  glad 
to  hear  from  you  again,  and  to  see  your  pen  enlisted  in  the 
grand  fight.  With  high  appreciation  and  kindest  regards, 
Yours,  very  truly,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 


352  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

The  hint  given  in  the  following  letter  to  his  young  friend, 
who  had  just  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law,  may  be 
useful  to  older  members  of  the  profession.  The  prisoner, 
whom  he  defended,  and  who  was  acquitted,  was  charged 
with  the  crime  of  murder: 

[From  I,.  S.  to  Zcno  1.  Fit/patrick,  Ks<|.  ] 

SPARTA,  October  29,  1871. 

Of  course,  I  am  gratified  at 

your  account  of  the  estimate  which  is  put  upon  my  speech 
in  behalf  of  Sandy  Luther.  Let  me,  however,  tell  you  a 
secret  which  may  not  be  useless  to  you  as  a  lawyer. 

While  the  speech  was  the  thing  which  struck  the  crowd, 
and  which  was  also  certainly  needful  to  the  end  in  view,  yet 
it  was  the  examination  of  witnesses  which  laid  the  indis- 
pensable foundation  for  the  speech,  and  for  the  acquittal, 
without  striking  the  spectators  as  being  at  all  remarkable.- 
I  made  the  State's  own  witnesses  show  (as  the  truth  was) 
that  it  was  really  a  case  of  great  forbearance  and  magna- 
nimity, instead  of  either  malice,  or  hasty,  unlawful  resent- 
ment. 

But  enough.  With  kind  regards  to  Colonel  Lawson,  and 
best  wishes  to  you  and  the  "firm,"  I  am  truly 

Your  friend,  LINTOX  STEPHENS. 

The  following  letter  is  in  answer  to  one  written  him  by 
his  life-long  friend  and  college  class-mate.  Judge  Pottle 
(now,  18/6,  presiding  so  ably  and  acceptably  over  the  Su- 
perior Courts  of  the  Northern  circuit),  wherein  he  urged 
Judge  Stephens  to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented  to  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  United  States  Senatorship : 

[From  L.  S.  to  Hun.  Kchvard  II.   Pottle,  j 

SPARTA,  October  30,  1871. 

DEAR  MED — Your  letter  was  received  Saturday  night. 
The  spirit  of  friendship  which  it  shows  towards  your  country, 
and  towards  me  personally,  is  ^appreciated  not  one  whit  the 
less  because  it  was  no  surprise  to  me.  On  the  contrary,  I 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  353 

value  it  the  more  highly  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is  in 
exact  conformity  with  what  I  expected  of  you.  It  is  a 
pleasure,  as  great  as  it  is  rare,  not  to  be  disappointed  in 
people  of  whom  we  think  well.  I  am  not  a  candidate  for 
the  United  States  Senate,  nor  for  any  office  in  the  world ; 
nor  do  I  see  that  any  crisis  has  arisen,  or  believe  that  any 
will  arise,  which  can  require  me  to  accept  office.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  the  great  cause,  which  should  now 
command  the  unselfish  devotion  of  every  good  man,  can, 
just  at  this  juncture,  be  better  served  by  another,  than  by 
me,  in  the  position  of  Senator-elect.  I  think  Herschel  V. 
Johnson  is  the  man.  He  is  no  candidate,  and  knows  noth- 
ing of  my  thoughts  on  the  subject;  but  he  is  all  right,  and 
has  a  pou'er  peculiar  to  himself — from  the  very  fact  that  our 
State  was  defrauded  of  her  constitutional  representation 
when  applying  therefor,  through  Jiini,  as  one  of  her  chosen 
Senators.  The  other  one  chosen  with  him  is,  of  course, 
now  out  of  the  question — put  so  by  his  physical  "disabil- 
ity. "*  Johnson,  if  elected,  will  not,  like  poor ,  and 

,  and ,  go  whining  to  Washington,  and  beg- 
ging the  removal  of  fraudulent  "disabilities,"  but  will  de- 
mand his  seat  as  a  constitutional  right — claim  and  get  a  hear- 
ing on  that  question,  and  then  make  a  speech  which  would 
ring  through  the  whole  country,  and  secure  the  election  of 
a  Democratic  President.  He  would  do  that  magnificently, 
and  that  is  the  thing  which  just  now  most  needs  to  be  done. 
I  know,  too,  that  /  should  be  much  more  effective  in  put- 
ting him  forward  than  I  could  be  in  asking  anything  for 
myself.  It  is  pre-eminently  a  time  which  demands  unsel- 
fish and  devoted  effort  for  the  cause,  regardless  of  all  per- 
sonal considerations 

Truly,  your  friend,  LINTOX  STEPHENS. 

P.  S. — As  you  say,  it  is  no  time  for  dead-heads:  we  need 
men.  I  would  prefer  to  be  unrepresented  rather  than  mis- 
represented at  all  times;  and,  just  at  this  time,  I  would  pre- 
fer to  be  unrepresented  rather  than  represented  feebly.  If 
you  can  go  to  Atlanta,  do  so.  Let  us  all  do  whatever  we 
can,  and  I  believe  you  can  do  much.  L.  S. 

*  Hon.  A.  II.  Stephens  was  elected  United  States  Senator  in  1866. 


354  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

[From  L.  S.  to  Samuel  Barnett,  Esq.] 

SPARTA,  November  28,  1871. 

DEAR  SAM — Just  a  line  in  behalf  of  a  young  friend  whom 
I  believe  to  be  as  capable  and  deserving  as  he  is  needy. 
Malcolm  Johnston  wishes  to  retain  his  position  as  assistant 
secretary  of  the  Agricultural  Society.  Please  use  your  in- 
fluence for  him,  if  you  can  do  so  consistently  with  your 
views  and  obligations.  I  suggest  that  you  might  secure  the 
object,  by  getting  a  promise  beforehand  to  retain  him,  from 
the  person  for  whom  you  may  vote  as  principal  secretary. 
If  Malcolm  retains  his  place,  I  .shall  be  very,  very  much 
gratified.  In  great  haste, 

Your  friend,  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

SPARTA,  March  4,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER— We  got  home 

the  first  night  after  poor  Ben  Harris  was  buried.  I  do  miss 
him  profoundly.  His  death  is  a  heavy  blow  to  me.  He 
retained  his  perfect  senses  and  speech  to  almost  the  last 
breath.  Just  before  the  last,  he  said,  with  marked  calmness 
and  distinctness,  that  he  "trusted  in  the  mercy  of  God,  and 
was  not  afraid  to  die."  It  was  said  in  response  to  a  ques- 
tion put  to  him  by  some  friend.  It  was  a  great  saying, 
made,  as  it  was,  right  in  the  face  of  death.  He  was  a  man 
of  very  uncommon  virtues  and  worth.  I  shall  always  miss 
him.* 

[From  L.  S.  to  Dr.  R.  H.  Salter.  j 

SPARTA,  March  9,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  DOCTOR — My  delay  in  answering  your  letter  of 
the  22d  ultimo  has  been  caused  by  continued  ill-health. 
Mary  and  I  got  home  from  Atlanta  on  the  28th — last  Wed- 

*The  gentleman,  whose  death  is  noted  in  tin:  preceding  letter,  was  the 
Hon.  Benjamin  T.  Harris,  of  Hancock — a  lending  citizen  of  the  county, 
repeatedly  elected  to  offices  of  trust  and  honor,  and  whose  virtues  and 
worth  will  keep  hi.>  memory  green  rind  fragrant  in  tin  hearts  of  those  who 
knew  him. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  355 

nesday  a  week  ago — about  IO  o'clock  at  night,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a  rain.  Our  carriage  failed  to  meet  us  at  the  de- 
pot, nor  was  the  usual  public  hack  there ;  nor,  indeed,  did 
we  find  there  a  single  human  being — neither  the  railroad 
agent  nor  anybody  else.  The  night  was  remarkably  dark. 
I  never  saw  a  darker  one.  I  got  the  conductor  of  our  train 
to  lock  up  our  baggage  in  a  freight-car,  which  was  standing 
at  the  depot,  and  a  fellow-passenger,  who  got  off  with  us, 
stumbled  about  through  the  darkness,  and  found  a  negro- 
house,  and  brought  out,  in  great  triumph,  a  lamp — not  a 
lantern,  mark  you,  but  a  naked,  feeble  lamp.  This  had  to 
be  carefully  guarded  from  wind  and  rain  to  keep  it  alive 
through  our  journey — his  destination  being  the  hotel,  dis- 
tant about  half  a  mile,  and  ours,  of  course,  our  own  house, 
distant  a  good,  or  rather  a  bad,  solid  mile.  Mr.  Lewis  (our 
fellow-sufferer)  had  his  hands  full  of  his  own  baggage,  and 
Mary,  as  being  the  stronger  of  us  two,  volunteered  to  carry 
the  remnant  of  ours  (consisting  of  her  bag  and  a  bundle  or 
two),  leaving  me,  the  invalid,  to  do  the  lightest  &\\ty  \  that 
is  to  say,  the  duty  of  nursing  and  carrying  the  light.  Well, 
I  found  this  same  office  of  carrying  the  light,  just  as  many 
better  men  have  found  it  before  me,  to  be  the  most  difficult 
of  all.  I  had  to  make  a  screen  for  the  lamp,  first  out  of  one 
hand  and  then  out  of  the  other,  and  then  out  of  my  hat,  ac- 
cording to  the  changing  drifts  of  wind  and  rain.  By  the 
time  we  got  home,  I  was  wet,  chilled,  and  most  thoroughly 
worried.  I  was  truly  angry  because  the  carriage  had  not 
met  us  in  accordance  with  the  timely  notice  which  we  had 
given  of  our  coming.  When  we  got  in  the  house,  we  found 
it  lighted  up,  and  all  the  family  awaiting  our  coming.  This 
was  too  bad  !  Evidently  expecting  us,  and  yet  they  had  left 
us  to  trudge  home,  as  best  we  might,  through  darkness  and 
rain  !  I  met  the  girls  with  a  cold  kiss,  and  without  a  word 
of  greeting.  We  soon,  however,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
finding  that  Brad  had  not  met  us  with  the  carriage  because 
he  had,  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  run  it  off  from  a  bridge 
into  a  ditch,  and  had  turned  it  over  and  broken  the  harness  all 
to  pieces. 

The  upshot  of  the  whole  matter  was,  that  1  got  a  cold, 
and  quite  a  backset  in  my  recovery.  Yesterday  was  the 
first  day  I  have  really  felt  like  getting  well.  To-day  I  feel 
still  better;  and  now  I  expect  to  return  to  Atlanta  day  after 


35^  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

to-morrow  (Monday),  and  resume  my  work  there.  My  sick- 
ness has  greatly  deranged  the  plan  I  had  formed  for  avoid- 
ing conflict  in  my  business  at  different  point*.  If  1  had  kept 
well,  I  should  now  have  my  Atlanta  business  at  a  point 
where  I  could  leave  it  until  the  second  week  of  April,  and 
could  therefore  attend  to  other  business  which  is  now  press- 
ing at  other  places,  and  which  I  shall  have  to  abandon,  un- 
less I  can  get  it  postponed.  This  I  hope  to  do,  but  it  is 
doubtful  ;  so  my  employment  for  the  State  may  not  improb- 
ably turn  out  a  losing  business  to  me,  in  point  of  money, 
at  least;  for  the  business  which  conflicts  with  it  is  in  my 
regular  circuit  of  practice,  and,  if  abandoned,  may  seriously 
diminish  my  future  engagements.  But  this  conflict  is  dis- 
tressing to  me  for  higher  reasons  than  my  own  interests;  for 
some  of  the  business  which  I  have  to  abandon  involves  the 
life  of  one  man,  and  almost  the  whole  fortune  of  another — 
both  of  whom  are  begging  me  to  stand  by  them,  and  one 
of  whom  is  my  dear  friend,  Colonel  Jack  Smith.  lie  has 
lately  had  the  misfortune  to  have  his  house  burned  up,  with 
all  it  contained  ;  and  he  now  has  two  law-suits,  which,  if 
they  go  against  him,  will  almost,  if  not  quite,  ruin  him  I 
am  truly  distressed.  You  will  doubtless  be  surprised  that 
1  do  not  stand  by  my  friend,  and  leave  the  State  to  get  other 
counsel.  The  public  considerations  which  forbid  this  course 
are  almost  absolutely  imperative.  To  explain  them  would 
require  much  space,  and  might  not  interest  you  at  all.  I 
can  only  say,  general!}',  that  there  has  been  much  gallant 
volunteering  in  favor  of  the  State,  followed,  in  ever}'  in- 
stance, by  a  mysterious  and  very  ////gallant  backing  out,  or, 
at  least,  by  a  silence  which  looks  like  backing  out;  and  it 
is  so  construed  by  the  people.  When  the  matter  was  at 
last  put  into  my  hands  by  the  (iovernor,  the  general  feeling 
and  expression  was,  that  it  would  n<n\.>  be  put  through,  with- 
out fear,  affection,  or  favor.  To  disappoint  this  general  and 
confident  expectation  would  not  only  damage  me  personally, 
but,  what  is  much  worse,  it  would  destroy  public  confidence. 
and  contribute  largely  to  increase  the  public  demoralization. 
1  have  made  my  decision,  after  taking  counsel  with,  not 
only  my  own  heart  and  head,  but  with  —  — ,  and,  through 
her,  with  St.  Joseph,  and  all  her  numerous  other  saints, 

whose  very  names  are  unknown  to  me "  \Ye 

all"  send  love  to  "you  all." 

Yours,  affectionately,  LINTON  STKPHK.NS. 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  357 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  H.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  March  15,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  allusion  to 

politics  reminds  me  to  tell  you  that  I  think  our  Governor 
and  General  Colquitt,  and  the  great  bulk  of  our  Georgia 
leaders,  are  decidedly  inclined  to  the  policy  of  opposing 
Grant  with  anybody  who  is  most  likely  to  beat  him,  and  are 
also  decidedly  inclined  to  believe  that  he  can  be  most  easily 
beaten  by  a  liberal  Republican.  I  believe,  also,  that  Gen- 
eral Toombs  is  the  same  way.  I  just  give  you  these  points  in 
order  that  you  may  know  how  matters  are  in  our  own  midst. 
1  am  opposed  to  running  anybody  who  will  not  stand  on 
a  sound  Democratic  platform  ;  but  I  am  in  despair.  Our 
host  is  panic-stricken,  and  wofully  demoralized — much  more 
so  than  the  Radicals,  and  cannot  be  rallied  for  this  campaign. 
My  fear  and  belief  are,  that  the  demoralization  will  be  fast- 
ened upon  it  for  years  to  conic,  if  the  policy  of  running  a  lib- 
eral Republican  be  adopted;  hence,  I  prefer  to  run  a  sound 
man.  In  one  case,  it  is  defeat,  without  the  loss  of  honor  or 
our  anny  ;  in  the  other  case,  it  is  defeat,  with  a  routed  army, 
and  the  panic  made  chronic 

[From  I..  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  March  16,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  received, 

since  rny  return  here,  an  invitation  to  make  the  next  com- 
mencement oration  for  Mercer  University,  i  am  inclined 
to  accept,  and  give  them  a  discourse  on  this  theme:  "The 
Uniformity  of  Causation — The  only  Basis  of  Harmon}'  be- 
tween True  Science  and  Rational  Religion."  What  do  you 
think  of  it?  1  could  give  the  intellectual  world  some  new 
and  striking  ideas  on  that  subject.  Does  the  tkcinc  strike 
you  at  all?  If  it  does  not,  why,  then,  1  should  doubt 
whether  my  treatment  of  it  would  make  any  real  impression 
on  thinkers.  The  uniformity  of  causation  is  the  very  bot- 
tom of  the  whole  system  of  inductive  philosophy ;  but  it 
has  not  been  made  to  appear  as  suck  to  the  world.  The 
proposition  that  causation  is  uniform  has  so  many  corolla- 
ries, etc M was  quite  entertained 

by   Martin   Crawford  while  she  was  here.     He  called,  one 


35 8  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

night,  to  see  me,  and  sat  in  our  bed-room  until  bec'-time.  He 
was  in  a  good  vein.  She  asked  him  if  Governor  Smith 
would  get  back  to  Atlanta  Monday  night.  He  said,  in  his 
slow,  jesting  way:  "I  don't  think  he  will — he  has  got  oft 
into  the  country,  with  nobody  but  his  \vife.  S/ic  don't  want 
any  "  appintim '/i A"  you  know,  and  I  think  Smith  is  just  now 

very  fond  of  that  kind  of  company." 

Affectionately,  LINTOX  STEPHENS. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  April  7,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER — I  was  very 

much  pleased  with  your  remarks  on  your  editorial  life.  You 
made  it  the -occasion  to  strike  some  very  powerful  blows. 
By  the  way,  have  you  seen  the  late  speech  of  Voorhees? 
It  is  tremendous — blasting  the  fraudulent  amendments  and 
all  the  frauds  and  usurpations,  and  denouncing  the  whole 
Radical  rule  in  terms  not  inferior  to  Demosthenes  against 
Philip.  It  is  grand!  That  speech,  as  a  platform,  w,ould 
be  like  fire  in  a  sedge-field.  Do  publish  it,  entire,  in  the 
SUM,  and  praise  it  in  the  high  terms,  which  it  so  richly  de- 
serves. His  groupings  are  powerful  and  thrilling.  It  was 
a  Titan  hurling  mountains.  I  had  no  idea  the  man  had  so 
much/<newin  him.  If  the  Democratic  party  want  to  suc- 
ceed in  saving  the  country,  or  in  the  low  purpose  of  even 
getting  office,  let  them  rail}-  to  Voorhees'  speech 

SI'ARTA,  April  19,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER— I  suppose  Billy 

told  you  of  Croley's  acquittal  here  last  week.  That  was 
very  gratifying  to  me :  the  case  had  given  me  great  anx- 
iety. I  don't  think  it  will  ever  bring  me  a  dollar  in  the 
way  of  a  fee ;  but  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  got  off 
a  good  fellow — one  of  "our  kin,"  as  we  used  to  call  all  the 
Paddies  we  saw  on  our  journey  through  Pennsylvania,  in 
1848.  By  the  way,  I  have  heard  of  a  very  sensible  remark, 
made  by  Bishop  Pierce,  in  relation  to  my  speech — the  first 
one  of  mine  he  ever  heard.  The  remark  was  in  reply  to  a 
question,  on  the  part  of  young  Torn  Pierce — a  preacher, 
and  nephew  of  the  bishop — as  to  how  my  speech  could  be 


JUDGE    I.INTON    STEPHFAS.  359 

reconciled  with  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament?  The 
answer  was,  "The  court-house  is  a  place  to  hear  lau<  rather 
than  gospel." 

The  following  communication  from  Samuel  Lumpkin, 
Esq.,  the  present  (1876)  accomplished  solickor-general  for 
the  Ninth  Judicial  District  of  Georgia,  gives  some  account 
of  the  speech  referred  to  in  the  preceding  letter,  and  his 
impressions  of  LINTON  STEPHENS  AS  AN  ADVOCATE: 

DEAR  SIR — A  compliance  with  your  request  to  give  you 
a  statement  of  the  impressions  made  upon  me  by  the  late 
Judge  Linton  Stephens,  as  an  advocate,  involves  the  per- 
formance of  a  task  at  once  delicate  and  responsible.  While 
I  accede  to  your  wish,  it  must  be  understood  that  what  I 
shall  say  does  not  pretend  to  be  exhaustive  of  Judge  Ste- 
phens' great  power  in  this  respect.  Indeed,  to  do  him  full 
justice  would  require  a  much  longer  and  more  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  him,  and  a  much  closer  study  of  the  habits 
and  peculiarities  of  his  mind  than  my  years  and  opportu- 
nities have  allowed. 

As  an  advocate,  he  had  few  peers.  His  whole  soul  was 
always  in  the  matter  of  his  discourse,  and,  whether  his  ulti- 
mate purpose  was  to  please  the  fancy  or  convince  the  judg- 
ment, he  rarely  failed.  As  Professor  Goodrich  observes  of 
Sir  John  Eliot,  "  His  fervor,  acting  on  a  clear  and  powerful 
understanding,  gave  him  a  simplicity,  directness,  and  con- 
tinuity of  thought,  a  rapidity  of  progress,  and  a  vehemence 
of  appeal,  which  reminded  one  of  the  style  of  Demosthe- 
nes." At  times,  he  exhibited  a  wonderful  power  of  per- 
suasion. It  has  been  written,  "Words  are  things,  and  in 
the  mouth  of  one  who  knows  what  words  are,  what  potent 
things  they  are !"  Judge  Stephens  knew  well  what  they 
were,  and  how  to  use  them.  When  he  chose  to  call  into 
action  the  better  emotions  of  human  nature,  he  was  never 
at  a  loss;  and,  as  results  of  this  exercise,  courts  and  juries 
have  been  held  spell-bound,  and  strong  men  made  to  weep 
by  the  winning  tones  and  touching  pathos  of  his  speech. 
A  distinguished  Georgian  once  said  of  him,  that,  though 
almost  rugged  in  his  manly  face  and  form,  he  had  in  his 
manner  all  the  gentleness  and  tenderness  of  a  woman;  but 


360  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

this  does  not  constitute  his  chief  characteristic  as  an  orator. 
He  possessed,  in  a  far  greater  degree,  the  power  of  com- 
pelling the  convictions  of  men  by  the  force  of  argument. 
He  invariably  impressed  his  listeners  with  the  sincerity  of 
his  own  belief  in  the  truth  of  what  he  said,  and  then,  in 
spite  of  opposition,  carried  like  convictions  to  their  minds. 

"As  rushing  clown,  when  winter  reigns, 
Resistless  to  the  shaking  plains, 
The  torrent  tears  its  way, 
And  all  that  bars  its  onward  course 
Sweep.-,  to  the  sea  with  headlong  force," 

so  did  the  power  of  this  man's  eloquence  sweep  away  all 
obstacles  that  stood  before  him. 

His  reasoning  was  close  and  strictly  analytical.  It  has 
been  said  of  Lord  Chatham  that  he  had  no  power  ' '  to  divide 
a  speech  into  distinct  copartments — one  designed  to  con- 
vince the  understanding,  and  another  to  move  the  passions 
or  the  will — but  that  all  went  together,  conviction  and  per- 
suasion, intellect  and  feeling,  like  chain-shot."  Not  so  with 
our  distinguished  friend.  He  had  a  great  faculty  for  exer- 
cising the  "intrinsic,  incommunicable  power  "  of  stern  logic. 
His  mind  was  capable  of  arranging  and  classifying  the  most 
complicated  questions,  and  then  presenting  them  with  such 
simplicity  that  the  most  unlearned  and  unskillful  readily 
comprehended  them.  He  seldom  made  a  mistake  in  prop- 
erly dividing  the  propositions  growing  out  of  his  subject, 
and  he  could  argue  abstractly  upon  their  merits  without 
resorting  to  the  employment  of  passionate  appeals  to  make 
his  remarks  impressive.  When  he  did  unite  the  two  ele- 
ments of  logic  and  persuasion,  he  achieved  the  crowning- 
glory  of  his  eloquence  ;  and  the  leading  characteristic  of  that 
eloquence,  in  any  view,  was  its  force.  Whether  he  rea- 
soned, or  appealed  to  the  sympathies,  or  denounced,  it  was 
always  done  forcibly. 

Again  :  few  men  had  greater  power  to  make  a  proposi- 
tion appear  ridiculous.  There  is  a  passage  in  the  speech  he 
made  in  his  own  defense,  at  Macon,  in  January,  18/1,  before 
the:  United  States  commissioner,  under  the  charge  of  vio- 
lating the  Enforcement  act  (so-called)  of  Congress,  which, 
you  remember,  splendidly  illustrates  his  almost  unequaled 
power  and  skill  to  use  the  weapon  of  ridicule.  \  shall  not 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  361 

transcribe  it ;  for  sure  I  am  that  the  speech  will  be  pub- 
lished entire  in  your  volume. 

Words  cannot  describe  the  influence  he  exerted  over  the 
minds  of  others.  It  is  certain  that  many,  who  held  opin- 
ions contrary  to  his,  declined  to  express  them  in  his  pres- 
ence— not  in  anticipation  of  uncourteous  treatment,  but  of 
certain  and  overwhelming  defeat  in  the  argument.  He  com- 
pelled them  to  see  things  from  his  stand-point;  and  it  not 
unfrequently  happened,  in  his  practice,  that  opposing  coun- 
sel, thoroughly  satisfied  by  his  reasoning,  vouchsafed  no 
reply. 

No  man  excelled  Judge  Stephens  in  remembering  facts. 
His  mind  grasped  every  detail  of  the  evidence  so  thor- 
oughly and  so  accurately  that  he  was  never  involved  in  any- 
thing like  self-contradiction,  or  doubt,  in  stating  what  had 
been  proven,  or  in  drawing  his  conclusions  therefrom.  He 
comprehended,  without  difficulty,  the  most  complicated 
testimony,  seeing  instantly  what  most  men  arrived  at  by 
slow  processes.  He  could,  at  pleasure,  recall  any  particu- 
lar part  of  the  evidence  he  required,  every  fact  being  ap- 
parently prominent  in  his  mind  at  the  same  moment ;  and 
he  never  failed  to  mention  all  that  went  to  strengthen  his 
side.  He  seemed  peculiarly  gifted  in  seizing  upon  the 
strong  points  of  his  case,  in  giving  every  circumstance  its 
most  favorable  significance,  and  in  making  available  to  his 
client's  interest  every  possible  view  of  the  entire  transaction 
under  consideration.  Nothing  was  ever  left  for  associate 
counsel  after  Judge  Stephens  had  presented  the  facts  of  a 
case. 

One  of  the  finest  addresses  I  ever  heard  before  a  jury  was 
made  by  him  in  behalf  of  Timothy  J.  Croley,  an  Irishman, 
charged  with  murder,  and  tried  in  the  Superior  Court  of 
Hancock  county,  at  April  term,  1872.  While  the  defend- 
ant was  beating  a  colored  man  with  a  pistol,  for  provoca- 
tion by  words,  given  some  two  hours  before,  the  pistol  fired 
and  killed  him.  It  was  a  case  in  which  the  jury  might  well 
have  found  a  verdict  of  guilty,  upon  the  idea  that  the  ac- 
cused had  exhibited  "a  disregard  of  human  life,"  amount- 
ing to  criminal  negligence. 

The  defense  was,  "Hom- 
icide by  misadventure."  To  avoid  conviction  for  murder, 
it  was  argued  that  there  was  no  intention  to  kill ;  nor  yet, 

33 


362  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    CF 

criminal  negligence,  because  the  beating  was  not  such  a  one 
as  would  ordinarily  result  in  death — the  shooting,  it  was 
claimed,  being  accidental.  It  was  conceded  by  both  sides 
that  the  offense  could  not  be  voluntary  man-slaughter.  To 
escape  a  verdict  for  involuntary  man-slaughter,  and  secure 
an  acquittal,  the  defendant  sought  to  justify  the  baliery  on 
account  of  the  provocation  given,  which  may  be  done  under 
our  statute,  the  jury  having  the  right  to  determine  whether 
or  not  the  opprobrious  words  used  shall  constitute  a  justifi- 
cation. The  deceased  had  called  Croley  a  "d — d  Irish 
dog,"  and  used  language  to  the  effect  that  his  mother  be- 
fore him  was  no  better  than  a  dog.  In  commenting  upon 
it,  Judge  Stephens,  in  substance,  said: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Jury:  Let  us  analyze  this  insult.  In 
the  first  place,  he  called  this  man  a  dog!  Think  of  the  deg- 
radation imputed  to  a  man  when  he  is  placed  on  a  level  with 
the  brute  creation !  A  man  having  feelings,  sensibilities, 
and  pride  of  character — a  man  made  in  the  image  of  his 
God,  with  a  heart,  brain,  and  soul — to  be  called  a  d-o-g! 
Hut  this  is  not  all :  he  said  Croley 's  inotlicr  was  no  better  than 
a  clog — that  mother  who  had  nursed  and  watched  over  him 
in  his  infancy — his  best  and  earliest  friend,  whose  prayers 
had  ascended  to  Heaven  in  his  behalf  ere  he  was  conscious 
of  their  meaning,  and  whose  love  had  followed  him,  in  all 
the  fullness  of  its  devotion,  until  her  latest  breath!  Ah! 
gentlemen,  this  was  more  than  Jiinnan  nature  could  stand. 
It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  if  this  man's  blood  boiled  under 
such  a  provocation,  even  if  it  had  been  no  worse.  But  it 
icas  worse:  he  called  him  an  J-r-i-s-/'  dog!  This  was  a  re- 
proach to  his  patriotism — an  insult  to  the  green  shores 
of  Krin.  Would  it  not  be  worse  to  call  a  man  a  Georgia 
scoundrel  than  simply  to  call  him  a  scoundrel  ?  Would  not 
the  insult  to  a  colored  man  be  made  more  offensive  by  call- 
ing him  a  n-i-g-g-c-r  thief?  Then,  why  was  it  not  worse  to 
call  Croley  an  I-r-i-s-k  dog?  And  this  insult  was  still  worse: 
he  called  him  a  d — n  Irish  dog!  Not  content  with  degrad- 
ing Croley  and  his  mother  to  the  condition  of  brutes,  and 
reproaching  them  for  their  nativity,  he  uses  profanity  to 
make  his  abuse  even  more  emphatic  and  unendurable. 
What  did  it  matter  if  two  hours  had  elapsed  between  the 
provocation  and  the  resentment?  The  State's  counsel  had 
spoken  of  cooling  time :  this  was  an  insult  about  which,  the 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  363 

longer  a  man  thought,  the  hotter  he  got.  If  he  was  'red- 
hot  '  at  the  time  it  was  given,  in  two  hours  he  must  have  be- 
come '  white-hot. '  Croley  was  called  upon  to  resent  it,  not 
o  :  }•  by  every  impulse  of  pride  and  manhood  within  him, 
but  by  his  love  for  the  land  that  gave  him  birth.  He  had 
been  an  unworthy  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  had  he  done 
less.  The  beating  given  the  deceased  was  what  he  deserved ; 
it  was  his ;  he  had  earned  it,  and  he  might  have  expected 
it.  What  else  could  he,  or  any  rational  man,  have  expected 
under  the  circumstances?" 

The  solicitor-general,  invoking  the  decisions  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  in  the  cases  of  Brown  rs.  The  State  (40  Ga., 
689),  and  Kitchens  vs.  The  State  (41  Ga.,  217),  had  insisted, 
before  the  court  and  jury,  that,  while  the  jury  are  made  the 
judges  of  the  law,  in  criminal  cases,  they  must  take  that 
law  from  the  court.  Here,  .the  great  power  of  Judge  Ste- 
phens was  expended  to  its  fullest  extent.  His  idea  was, 
that  the  jury  were  a  part  of  the  court,  and,  as  such,  had 
legal  and  constitutional  rights,  as  distinct  and  as  well  defined 
as  those  of  the  judge;  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  each 
branch  of  the  court  to  earnestly  maintain  its  respective 
rights,  just  as  each  of  the  three  co-ordinate  departments  or 
our  government,  while  co-operating  with  the  other  two,  pre- 
serves its  independence  of  them.  In  defense  of  what  he 
regarded  as  one  of  these  great  rights  of  juries — one  which 
had  been  purchased  and  perpetuated  by  the  blood  of  he- 
roes— he  proclaimed  that  the  decisions  cited  were  not  laic, 
and  iici'C)'  could  be  laiv,  binding  upon  3.  free  people,  though 
repeated  by  a  thousand  judges  through  a  thousand  years. 
He  told  the  jurors  that  they  were  judges  of  the  law,  in  crim- 
inal cases,  by  a  right  older  even  than  Magna  Charta,  and 
that  they  were  the  last  conservators  of  that  right,  and  could 
preserve  it  inviolate  in  spite  of  all  the  decisions  of  all  the 
courts  on  earth.  In  thus  addressing  these  sworn  jurors, 
Judge  Stephens  was  battling,  not  only  for  Croley,  but  for 
the  establishment  of  a  principle  in  which  he  believed  with 
all  his  heart.  It  has  never  been  my  lot  to  hear  a  better 
speech.  Not  Erskine,  in  behalf  of  Hardy,  could  have  been 
more  grandly  impressive.  For  three  hours  he  commanded 
the  attention  of  every  man  in  the  crowded  court-room,  and 
none  were  weary  when  he  closed. 

The  jury  very  soon  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty ! 


364  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

Judge  Stephens  sometimes  exhibited  great  tact  and  great 
power  in  another  way:  he  would  make  his  view  of  the 
law  and  facts  so  convincingly  clear  that  opposition  seemed 
unreasonable,  and  then  defy  the  tribunal  addressed  to  ad- 
judge against  him.  It  was  not  often  he  resorted  to  this 
style  of  argument,  but  instances  did  occur  when  he  used  it 
most  effectually. 

He  was  greater,  as  a  lawyer,  in  civil  than  in  criminal  cases. 
The  reason  was  this :  from  the  nature  of  his  mind,  he  was 
accustomed  to  regard  criminal  law  as  something  not  to  be 
determined  by  what  was  written  in  statute-books  and  com- 
mentaries, but  as  a  system  of  natural  justice,  written  by  the 
finger  of  God  upon  the  hearts  of  all  men.  He  very  often 
rested  the  defense  of  persons  charged  with  crimes  upon 
the  validity  of  principles  that  I  have  heard  the  distinguished 
Georgian,  already  referred  to,  speak  of  as  "laws  which  no 
Legislature  made,  and  which,  thank  God  !  no  Legislature 
can  repeal."  Hence,  he  did  not  devote  to  the  study  of 
criminal  jurisprudence  so  much  time  and  attention  as  he 
thought  it  necessary  to  bestow  upon  the  proibundcr  and 
more  intricate  depths  of  the  la\v  regulating  "the  rights  of 
things."  While,  therefore,  he  was  more  impassioned  in  the 
conduct  of  criminal  causes,  he  was  more  learned  and  more 
logical  in  the  management  and  argument  of  civil  cases.  .  . 

I  have  attempted  no  eulogy  of  Judge  Stephens ;  nor  shall 
I,  in  this  connection,  attempt  any  expression  of  my  grati- 
tude for  his  many  kind  acts  to  me,  or  of  that  profound  sor- 
row with  \vhich,  in  common  with  every  Georgian,  I  lament 
his  untimely  death.  I  feel  sure  that  his  countrymen  will 
hold  in  grateful  remembrance  his  truthfulness,  his  courage, 
his  patriotism,  and  his  fidelity  to  every  trust. 

Most  truly,  yours,  SAMUEL  LUMPKIN. 

[From  L.  S.  to  A.  II.  S.  ] 

ATLANTA,  April  29,  1872. 

DEAR  BROTHER — This  morning  I  got  two  letters  from 
you — one  of  the  2/th  and  the  other  of  last  night.  I  am 
truly  glad  that  the  latest  news  from  poor  Pluck  leaves  room 
for  his  recovery.  By  the  way,  I  take  this  occasion  to  make 
a  confession  in  relation  to  Pluck :  when  I  first  knew  he  was 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  365 

dangerously  sick,  I  rather  think  a  wish  arose  in  my  secret 
breast — scarcely  acknowledged  to  myself — that  his  sickness 
should  end  in  death.  While  I  knew  that  result  would  give 
you  some  sadness,  yet  I  thought  it  would,  on  the  whole, 
be  a  real  relief  both  to  you  and  the  poor  dog.  I  did  not 
comprehend  how  much  you  were  attached  to  him,  nor  how 
deeply  you  would  be  pained  by  his  death.  Since  I  have 
learned  the  real  state  of  the  case,  I  truly  hope  that  he  may 
get  well,  and  that  the  parting  between  master  and  dog  may 
long  be  deferred.  I  feel  a  new  and  tenderer  interest  than 
ever  before  in  the  fortunes  of  poor  Pluck.  "Oh,  long  may 
he  wave!"  etc.  The  mutual  tie  which  you  have  dis- 
closed, as  existing  between  you  and  your  dog,  gives  me  a 

new  glimpse  into  the  interior  of  your  present  life.      M 

has  frequently  said  that  you  seemed  to  possess  a  charm 
against  loneliness,  and  I  have  felt  a  concurrence  in  that  opin- 
ion to  a  greater  extent  than  I  allowed  myself  to  express. 
During  the  last  two  or  three  years,  while  you  have  seemed 
to  enjoy  company,  and  to  be  quite  cheerful,  yet  you  have 
seemed  to  me  to  be  less  dependent  on  company  for  your  en- 
joyment than  you  ever  were  before,  and  your  cheerfulness 
has  seemed  to  be  less  determinate  and  less  dependent  on 
your  surroundings.  You  have  seemed  to  be  absorbed  in 
your  own  currents  of  thought,  and  to  live  very  much  in  a 
world  of  your  own,  where  your  purely  intellectual  nature 
predominated  over  your  emotional,  in  a  degree  very  unusual 
with  you  in  former  days.  Now  I  see,  or  think  I  see,  that, 
to  some  extent,  I  have  been  mistaken. 

The  General  is  resolute  in  his  purpose  to  attack  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  legislation  passed  after  the  expiration 
of  the  forty  days.  He  has  talked  to  me  about  it  several 
times — the  last  time  having  been  about  two  hours  ago.  He 
seems  to  have  pretty  calmly  studied  the  views  I  presented 
to  him  as  to  what  would  probably  be  claimed  by  the  enemy 
as  to  the  logical  consequences  of  the  decision,  if  it  should 
be  made  as  he  desires  it;  and,  really,  he  presents  some  very 
strong  counter  views  as  to  the  probable  course  of  the  enemy. 
I  will  give  you  the  strongest  one — not  precisely  as  he  gave 
it  to  me,  but  in  the  clearer  and  stronger  form  (as  I  conceive 
it)  which  has  been  worked  out  by  my  own  reflection.  Mark 
you,  the  foundation  of  the  whole  trouble  from  that  decision 
would  be  in  the  material  it  would  furnish  for  attacking  the 


366  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

validity  of  the  election  in  December,  1870.  If  we  can  save 
that  election,  it  upholds  everything  else,  and  there  is  no 
danger.  Well,  Congress  is  fully  committed  to  the  validity 
of  that  election.  The  House  has  received  our  members, 
chosen  in  that  election,  and  the  Senate  has  received  our 
Senator,  elected  by  the  Legislature  which  was  chosen  in 
that  election.  Grant  also  refused  to  back  Conley  in  his  in- 
tended resistance  to  the  claims  of  Governor  Smith.  Grant 
must  have  held  Smith  to  be  the  true  Governor,  and,  of 
course,  the  present  Legislature  to  be  the  true  Legislature. 
Grant  also  would  have  to  carry  a  very  heavy  load  in  bring- 
ing back  into  power  the  crowd  of  exposed  thieves,  who 
bowed  and  retired,  at  his  own  bidding,  in  favor  of  what  he 
recognized  as  the  legitimate  government.  True,  he  might' 
say  his  recognition  was  founded  on  the  decision  of  the  high- 
est judicial  tribunal  in  the  State,  and  that  he  changes  his 
course  with  the  change  of  that  decision.  But  Congress 
could  not  say  this — at  least,  the  House  could  not — for  they 
received  our  members  before  any  judicial  decision  had  been 
made.  To  change  front  on  the  question  would  certainly  be 
embarrassing;  even  to  such  upholders  and  perpetrators  of 
usurpation.  They  could  easily  avoid  doing  so,  either  by 
saying  the  first  judicial  decision  was  the  right  one,  or  by  tak- 
ing the  true  ground,  for  once,  and  saying  that  the  election 
does  not,  by  any  means,  fall  within  the  act  under  which  it 
was  held,  since  the  lawful  time  for  the  election,  having 
passed,  the  election  had  to  be  held  at  some  subsequent  time ; 
and  this  election  was  undoubtedly  the  true  expression  of  the 
constitutional  constituency.  What  do  you  think  of  this?  I 
shall  adhere,  /  think,  to  my  determination  not  to  raise  the 
question  in  the  cases  where  it  would  benefit  me  ;  but  I  shall 
certainly  not  oppose  the  General's  argument  in  the  case 
where  he  raises  the  question  against  me.  I  shall  not  argue 
against  my  convictions,  and  I  shall  give  that  explanation  of 
my  silence.  But  it  is  nearly  night. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

LIXTON  STEPHENS. 

Judge  Stephens'  health,  never  robust,  began  to  fail,  per- 
ceptibly, in  1868.  Any  imprudence  in  diet,  or  exposure 
to  inclement  weather,  or  severe  physical  exertion,  affected 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  367 

him  more  or  less  seriously;  still,  he  rallied  so  speedily  that 
the  increasing  frequency  and  violence  of  his  attacks  of  illness 
occasioned  little  of  uneasy  apprehension  even  in  the  minds 
of  those  most  intimately  apprised  of  the  fact.  His  recu- 
perative energies  seemed  indeed  marvelous ;  and  when  dys- 
pepsia— his  lifetime  demon — relaxed  its  grasp  and  gave  re- 
spite to  jubilant  and  playful  spirits  for  a  spell,  they  believed 
it  could  not  otherwise  be  than  that  many  years  of  life  re- 
mained to  him.  But  the  heavy,  incessant  strain  upon  all 
his  faculties,  physical  and  mental,  in  the  spring  of  1872, 
required  a  power  of  endurance  which  his  enfeebled  consti- 
tution could  not  supply.  Outside  of  professional  business — 
large,  onerous,  exacting,  in  his  own  immediate  circuit  of 
practice — he  was  retained,  as  counsel,  by  Governor  Smith 
to  investigate  the  enormous  frauds  perpetrated  against  the 
State  during  the  preceding  administration,  and  to  prosecute 
the  offenders.  Never  unmindful  of  the  business  of  his  life, 
nor  indolent  in  the  profession  of  his  choice — a  profession 
which  is  said  to  be  "ancient  as  magistracy,  noble  as  virtue, 
necessary  as  justice  " — he  brought  to  his  aid  all  his  resources 
of  zeal,  fidelity,  assiduity,  and  candor.  How  well  he  per- 
formed that  difficult  office — with  what  ability,  fidelity,  and 
conscientiousness — is  known  to  the  people  of  Georgia;  for 
his  services  then  and  there  rendered — alas!  cut  short  too 
soon — are  among  the  diamonds  that  sparkle  in  the  diadem 
of  the  State. 

It  was  whilst  he  was  prosecuting  these  cases  in  the  courts 
that  he  was  invited  to  address  the  people  on  the  political 
situation  at  the  capitol.  The  Presidential  election  \vas  ap- 
proaching; no  Democratic  candidate  had  been  nominated. 
Public  sentiment  was  in  its  formative  period — its  crysalis 
state.  It  was  his  last  appearance  upon  the  politcal  platform. 
Weary  and  forworn  with  the  professional  work  of  the  day, 
the  words  he  uttered  were  words  of  admonition  and  warn- 
ing. Suine  present  then  disputed  the  history  he  recited; 


368  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

others  derided  the  prophecy  he  made :  but  all  since  agree 
that  the  admonition  and  tJic  warning  came  from  a  political 
seer ;  and  what  was  prophecy  then  has  ripened  into  history 
now.  Here  follows  his  speech : 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN — It  is  a  source  of  real  regret  that 
bodily  weariness  and  mental  lassitude,  resulting  from  close 
confinement,  for  several  consecutive  clays,  in  the  court-room, 
will  subtract  so  much  from  the  small  power  which  I  might 
otherwise  have  to  address  you  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the 
great  cause  and  of  this  intelligent  audience.  As  I  must 
husband  my  strength  and  resources,  I  shall  not  attempt, 
even  if  I  could  do  so,  to  entertain  your  imagination,  or  to 
amuse  you.  I  come  to  address  the  arguments  of  reason  to 
your  understanding,  and  to  your  hearts,  the  appeals  of  cour- 
age and  honor. 

There  are  two  great  questions  which  demand  immediate 
answers  from  the  Democratic  State-rights  people  of  this 
country:  the  first  of  these  is,  Shall  the  struggle  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  Democratic  State-rights  principles  be  main- 
tained ;  or,  shall  we  abandon  that  struggle  and  accept  the 
antagonistic  principle  of  unlimited  power  in  the  central  gov- 
ernment, and  its  inevitable  logical  sequence — despotism  ? 

There  are  now  two  candidates  before  this  country  for  the 
Presidency — General  Grant  and  Mr.  Greeley.  What  will 
either  of  these  do  for  the  advancement  of  Democratic  State- 
rights  principles?  And  when  any  many  asks  me  to  con- 
template and  ponder  the  policy  of  supporting  either,  the 
question  recurs,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  putting  it:  Is  the 
struggle  for  the  restoration  of  these  principles  to  be  main- 
tained? 

What  are  these  two  antagonistic  principles?  State-rights 
on  the  one  hand — Democratic  ;  and  on  the  other,  centralism. 

My  friends,  have  you  contemplated  the  difference  between 
the  two?  What  is  State-rights?  What  is  the  essence  of  it 
in  a  nut-shell?  It  is,  that  while  we  recognize  in  the  gen- 
eral government  all  the  powers  that  have  been  delegated 
to  it  by  the  true  Constitution,  it  is  none  but  those  that  have 
been  thus  delegated  by  the  true  Constitution.  All  other 
rights  are  reserved  to  the  States,  and  the  States  hold  these ; 
that  is,  all  reserved  rights,  subordinate  to  no  body  nor  com- 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  369 

bination  of  men:  they  are  subordinate  only  to  God,  who 
gave  them. 

Rights  are  not  dependent  upon  the  pleasures  of  men — 
they  are  not  matters  of  grace  ;  and  when  a  man  talks  to  me 
about  State-rights  that  are  subordinate — which  they  can  ex- 
ercise, subject  to  the  central  government,  in  the  exercise  01 
its  solemn  constitutional  obligation  to  maintain  the  equal 
rights  of  citizens — then  he  is  talking  of  one  thing  and  I  of 
another;  he  is  talking  of  State-rights  that  are  subordinate : 
I  know  of  no  State-rights  that  are  not  absolute. ,' 

What  is  this  antagonistic  principle — centralism — unlim- 
ited power  in  the  central  government?  I  care  not  whether 
that  unlimited  power  is  to  be  exercised  by  one  man,  or  by 
one  thousand:  it  is  no  better  in  one  case  than  in  the  other. 

The  curse  of  the  principle  is  the  unlimited  nature  of  the 
power!  What  does  it  do?  Take  its  works:  the  tree  is  to 
be  judged  by  its  fruits.  It  sets  aside  the  government  of 
our  States  at  will,  and  erects  in  their  places  others  of  its 
own  creation.  It  legislates,  not  for  the  whole  country,  but 
for  particular  States,  whenever  it  chooses  to  do  so ;  it 
makes  a  law  for  the  "Rebel"  States — no  such  law  for  the 
loyal ;  it  makes  a  law  for  Virginia,  by  name,  another  for 
Alabama,  and  one  then  for  Georgia,  by  name. 

Our  fathers  fought  the  Revolution  on  the  principle  that 
there  could  be  no  taxation  without  representation.  That 
was  but  one  small  branch  of  a  larger  and  a  grander  princi- 
ple, and  that  is,  that  there  is  no  security  for  good  govern- 
ment, unless  the  men  who  make  the  laws,  whether  they  be 
few  or  many,  are  subjected  to  the  operations  of  the  laws 
that  they  themselves  make ;  and  whenever  a  power,  exter- 
nal to  Georgia,  makes  laws  for  her,  to  which  the  law-mak- 
ing power  itself  is  not  subject,  you  have  the  completion  of 
despotism ;  you  have  the  same  sort  of  government  that 
poor  Poland  enjoys  from  Russia ;  you  have  the  same  sort 
of  government  that  gallant  Ireland  disdains  to  accept  from 
England,  and  struggles  under  to-night. 

The  Democratic  State-rights  principle  is  the  only  divine 
right  of  government  that  I  recognize  on  this  earth.  [Ap- 
plause.] I  pray  God  that  I  may  ever  be  true  to  His  holy 
throne,  and  to  all  His  good  gifts  to  men ;  and  I  recognize 
among  His  good  gifts,  as  one  of  the  brightest,  the  right  of 
self-government  in  every  people  who  are  fit  to  exercise  it. 


37O  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Where  are  the  champions  who  will  stand  for  this  God  given 
right  of  self-government?  Who  will  stand  with  me,  for  one, 
upon  the  determination  to  struggle  for  its  restoration — for 
it  is  now  in  the  dust — and  to  struggle  on  this  line,  not  only 
through  the  whole  "summer,"  but  through  the  whole  of 
lifetime?  I  pray  that  I  may  die,  and  be  buried  out  of  sight, 
rather  than  that  I  should  ever  live  to  see  the  day  when  my 
own  brethren,  who  have  fought  with  me  under  this  glorious 
banner,  shall  ever  make  up  their  minds  to  abandon  it.  [Ap- 
plause.] Which  side  are  you  on,  and  are  you  in  earnest? 

Fellow-citizens,  you  are  all  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
true  principle — the  God-given  principle — the  divine  right. 
You  are  for  State-rights — for  the  supremacy  of  Democratic 
principles,  which,  in  this  crisis,  means  State-rights,  nothing 
else ;  Democratic  principles  mean  nothing  but  State-rights, 
for  which  Democrats  and  old  Whigs  used  to  fight,  until  the 
old  Whig  party  received  its  death-wound,  in  1852,  when 
General  Scott  was  run  by  such  men  as  Sumner,  Greeley, 
and  Morton,  and  they  gave  it  a  weight  it  could  not  carry, 
and  made  it  stagger  and  fall  into  its  grave  forever.  Mr. 
Greeley  is  one  of  the  men  who  killed  the  old  Whig  party 
by  abolitionism. 

I  say  Democratic  principles  now  are  just  simply  State- 
rights  principles,  for  which  Democrats  and  old  Whigs,  up 
to  that  time,  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder ;  and  for  which 
Democrats — it  may  be  now  only  Southern  Democrats — they 
say,  we  are  going  to  lose  our  Northern  allies  ;  and  if  we  lose 
them,  I  never  intend  to  run  after  them  [applause] ;  it  may 
be,  Southern  Democrats  only  are  now,  and  hereafter,  to 
contend  for  these  principles;  but  whether  we  have  been 
Whigs  or  Democrats,  let  all  men,  who  have  drank  from  this 
cup  of  centralism,  reconstruction,  ku-kluxism  and  suspension 
of  habeas  corpus — drank  to  the  dregs  and  found  it  exceed- 
ingly bitter — let  all  those  make  up  their  minds  now,  for  a 
lifetime,  never  to  bow  down  to  the  power  that  oppresses  us. 

How  do  these  two  candidates  for  President  stand  in  ref- 
erence to  these  two  antagonistic  principles — State-rights 
and  centralism  ?  I  believe  that  everybody  admits  that 
Grant  is  a  centralist;  and  how  anybody  cati  doubt  that 
Greeley  is  just  as  intense  a  one,  and  more  able,  is  a  matter 
of  amazement  to  me.  [Applause.]  He  has  advocated 
every  one  of  these  radical,  despotic,  centralizing  measures — 
every  one.  He  has  been  the  leader. 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  3/1 

Ah !  some  tell  me  we  must  ignore  the  past  and  stand 
upon  the  present.  I  am  willing  to  ignore  any  man's  past 
and  stand  upon  his  present,  if  I  believe  that  his  present  is 
right,  and  that  he  is  sincerely  and  honestly  repentant  for 
his  past,  and  intends  himself  to  stand  upon  his  present.  I 
won't  stand  upon  any  man's  present  when  I  have  no  confi- 
dence in  the  man  himself.  But  what  is  Mr.  Greeley's 
present?  Is  it  any  better  than  his  past?  Why,  in  his  very 
letter  of  acceptance,  giving  his  own  interpretation  of  the 
platform  on  which  he  is  running,  he  takes  it  upon  himself 
to  group  all  the  things  that  we  hold  most  dear — State-rights, 
which  he  does  not  even  deign  to  designate  by  that  name — 
he  says  "local  government" — the  supremacy  of  the  civil 
over  the  military  power,  sacredness  of  habeas  corpus,  local 
government  as  against  centralism — he  groups  all  these  to 
tell  us,  and  he  does  tell  us,  that  he  holds  them  all  subordin- 
ate to  what  he  calls  the  central  government's  solemn  con- 
stitutional obligation  to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of  citizens — 
subordinate  to  the  very  power,  the  very  duty,  which  he 
claims  as  the  authority  for  the  passage  of  every  abomination 
which  has  disgraced  our  statute-books,  and  oppressed  lib- 
erty and  liberty's  sons.  [Applause.] 

Do  you  want  to  know  where  the  enforcement  acts  came 
from — the  ku-klux  acts,  the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus? 
They  came  from  this  very  same  cry.  Mr.  Greeley  led  the 
race — he  sounded  the  key-note.  Has  he  ever  taken  one 
word  of  it  back?  Not  one.  Don't  be  deceived,  my  coun- 
trymen; for  I  tell  you  that  your  liberties  are  dependent 
upon  your  decision  of  this  question.  Don't  let  people  de- 
ceive you  ;  lie  lias  never  taken  back  one  word  of  it;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  he  takes  pains,  in  his  last  letter,  to  re-assert 
the  very  quintessence  of  the  principle  which  was  invoked  for 
their  passage,  and  on  which  he  justified  and  demanded 
them.  Is  not  this  the  truth? 

What  was  the  ground  on  which  the  enforcement  of  all 
those  odious  measures  was  demanded  by  Butler,  by  Mor- 
ton, by  Grant,  by  Greeley,  by  Trumbull,  by  the  whole 
Radical  crew?  It  was  this  very  same  plea  of  solemn  con- 
stitutional obligation  to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of  citizens. 
That  was  the  party  slogan  under  which  they  rode  over  you 
and  your  rights;  and  when  I  hear  the  same  music  now,  1 
expect  to  see  the  same  dance  follow  it.  [Applause  and 
laughter.] 


3~2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

Talk  to  me  about  Greeley  doing  anything  to  advance 
Democratic  principles !  Some  folks  say  that  his  friends  in 
Congress  voted  against  the  renewal  of  the  suspension  of 
habeas  corpus.  That  is  very  good.  I  give  them  credit  for 
that;  but  I  never  stopped  to  count  his  friends,  or  learn  what 
they  did ;  my  principle  of  action  is,  when  two  men  avow, 
equally,  the  right  to  oppress  me,  I  shall  never  stop  to  count 
the  chances  whether  one  or  the  other  shall  find  it  to  his  in- 
terest to  exercise  that  right  of  oppression  or  not.  If  he 
avows  the  right,  I  know  he  will  exercise  it  whenever  he 
finds  it  to  his  interest.  [Applause.] 

Our  fathers  declared  their  independence  of  Great  Britain 
after  the  Stamp  act  had  been  repealed,  and  they  declared  it 
because,  in  the  repeal,  the  right  to  tax  without  representa- 
tion was  claimed  and  reserved.  After  the  blow  had  been 
withdrawn,  your  fathers  fought  the  Revolution  against  the 
right  of  the  tyrant  to  repeat  the  blow.  Mr.  Webster  truly 
and  grandly  said:  "The  Revolution  of  '76  was  fought  on  a 
preamble."  That  was  just  equivalent  to  saying  that  it  was 
fought  on  a  principle ;  and  nothing  was  worth  either  the 
blood  or  the  money  that  was  spent  in  the  conflict,  unless 
the  fight  was  one  on  principle.  Give  me  principle,  and  I 
will  fight  on  and  fight  ever,  and  die  fighting!  But  when 
you  take  away  principle,  I  have  no  longer  any  contest ;  and 
I  say  to  you,  "(3  Israel,  to  your  tents!  " 

Some  people  say,  "Anybody  to  beat  Grant!"  "Down 
with  Grant !  "  I  don't  say  "  Down  with  Grant !  "  nor  down 
with  Greeley,  nor  down  with  Suinner,  nor  down  with  any- 
body! What  I  say  is,  down  with  radicalism,  and  every- 
body who  supports  it,  whether  it  be  Grant,  or  Greeley,  or 
anybody  else !  I  say  down  with  Grant,  because  he  sup- 
ports radicalism.  I  say  up  with  the  true  Democratic  can- 
didate that  will  be  true  to  that  banner,  because  under  it  I 
am  willing  to  fight;  and  Democrats  and  State-rights  men 
everywhere  will  fight  with  pride,  and  with  honor  and  en- 
thusiasm, and  these  are  the  greatest  elements  I  know  of 
success.  [Applause.] 

General  Grant  had  quite  a  respectable  set  of  principles 
when  the  war  closed.  Talk  about  Greeley  going  on  a  bond 
for  our  President,  Davis!  So  he  did;  that  was  one  good 
thing  he  did;  I  give  him  credit  for  it;  and  I  thank  God  that 
I  am  capable  of  giving  even  the  devil  his  due.  When  Stan- 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  373 

ton,  that  arch-fiend,  was  about  to  arrest  Generals  Lee,  Gor- 
don, and  Cobb,  and  that  noble  band  that  surrendered  to 
him — overwhelmed,  as  they  said  then — not  conquered — and 
I  hope  to  God  they  may  never  be  conquered — General  Grant 
said:  "If  it  is  done,  I  will  resign;"  and  "resign,"  in  this 
case,  meant  throwing  up  thirty  thousand  dollars  a  year ;  a 
tolerably  handsome  thing,  even  in  the  estimation  of  people 
here,  in  Atlanta,  who  are  accustomed  to  seeing  and  hearing 
of  very  large  operations.  Not,  fellow-citizens,  that  I  mean 
to  intimate  that  the  people  of  Atlanta  have  been  responsible 
for  these  large  operations.  You  have  gone  through  the 
ordeal  of  Bullock's  radical,  corrupt  administration,  and,  even 
when  the  bait  was  held  out  to  you,  you  have  refused  it — 
yes,  in  establishing  in  your  city  this  very  house,  where  you 
are  now  assembled.  You  stood  true  to  honor — you  passed 
through  the  fire.  I  have  found  the  smell  of  fire  on  the  gar- 
ments of  sonic;  but,  thank  God!  the  great  bulk  of  your 
citizens  have  shown  themselves  to  be  firm  adherents  of  honest 
principles:  they  have  gone  through  this  ordeal,  and  come 
out  purified  gold.  I  don't  know  a  body  of  sounder  Demo- 
crats than  the  Democrats  of  Atlanta.  When  I  spoke  01 
large  operations  here,  I  meant  it  as  no  reproach.  God 
forbid. 

The  man  that  preserves  his  virtue  under  temptation  will 
do  to  be  trusted  always :  the  man  that  preserves  it  up  to  the 
time  when  temptation  comes,  we  simply  don't  know  what 
he  will  do  when  it  does  come. 

General  Grant  said  he  would  throw  up  his  commission  if 
Lee  and  his  brave  comrades  were  arrested.  That's  a  good 
thing ;  I  give  him  credit  for  it.  President  Johnson  sent  him 
down  here  to  take  a  survey  of  the  South,  and  report  on  our 
condition.  He  came ;  he  was  in  this  city  ;  he  was  in  divers 
central  points  of  our  country.  He  went  back  and  reported 
that  we  were  all  right ;  that  we  ought  to  be  restored  to  our 
places  in  the  Union  immediately,  without  any  XlVth  or 
XVth  miscalled  amendments  (for  that  was  before  they  were 
enacted) ;  without  any  reconstruction  and  Radicalism  ;  with- 
out any  Enforcement  act ;  without  any  ku-klux  laws ;  with- 
out any  suspension  of  habeas  corpus. 

And  why  was  it  not  done?  Why  were  we  not  restored? 
The  Radical  cry  zvas  raised  against  it,  and  again  the  same 
old  arch-fiend,  Horace  Greeley,  lieadedthatcty.  Grant  quit 


374  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

his  good  principles,  and  went  over,  and  became  the  expo- 
nent'of  Greeley's  bad  ones.  This  is  the  greatest  objection  that 
I  have  to  Grant:  that  he  quit  his  own  principles  and  went 
over  to  Greeley's;  and  as  long  as  reason  maintains  her 
throne  in  me,  and  the  pulsations  of  my  heart  permit  me  to 
live,  so  help  me  God,  I  never  intend  to  follow  that  man's 
example!  [Applause.] 

Democratic  principles  restored  by  supporting  Grant  or 
Greeley  !  I  would  just  as  soon  think  of  advancing  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity  by  hauling  down  the  banner  of  Christ, 
and  hoisting  the  colors  of  Mahomet!  [Applause.] 

The  combination,  or  coalition,  if  you  please,  made  by 
Democrats  and  Liberals,  in  Missouri  and  Tennessee,  is 
quoted,  and  we  are  urged  to  follow  the  example.  The 
proposition  that  was  made  by  good  Democrats  and  true,  to 
accept  Judge  Davis  as  a  candidate,  is  quoted.  There  was 
something  in  each  of  these  cases  to  be  gained  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  Democratic  principles  in  Missouri  and  in  Ten- 
nessee. The  combination,  with  Gratz  Brown  in  the  one  and 
Senter  in  the  other,  stood  pledged 'in  each  State  to  strike  loose 
the  fetters  of  about  forty  thousand  Democratic  voters,  who 
were  then  under  the  iron  heel  of  proscription ;  and  when 
that  was  done,  these  States  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
Democracy.  There  was  some  sense  in  that.  Judge  Davis, 
on  the  Supreme  Bench,  conceived  that  his  solemn  constitu- 
tional obligation  required  him  to  pronounce  sentence  of  un- 
constitutionality  on  some  of  the  acts  which  had  been  passed 
by  Greeley,  Grant,  and  Sumner,  to  carry  out  tlieir  ideas  of 
constitutional  obligation.  lie  pronounced  these  acts  null 
and  void.  Judge  Davis,  under  his  solemn  sense  of  duty, 
held  those  acts  to  be  revolutionary,  unconstitutional,  null 
and  void.  He  turned  loose  Milligan  after  he  had  been  con- 
demned by  a  military  tribunal  to  be  shot.  He  was  about  to 
turn  loose  McArdle,  but  Greeley  again  came  to  the  rescue, 
and  Congress,  at  the  crack  of  his  lash,  passed  a  law  to  pre- 
vent Judge  Davis  from  turning  loose  any  other  victim  of 
tyranny. 

Judge  Davis,  God  knows,  is  not  all  I  would  have  him  to 
be;  indeed,  I  never  expect  to  find  any  human  being  who  is 
up  to  the  standard  of  perfection — not  even  those  who  were 
made  last,  and  therefore  made  best,  of  whom  the  poet 
said: 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  375 

"Auld  Nature  swears  the  lovely  dears, 

Her  noblest  work  she  classes,  O ! 
Her  'prentice  hand  she  tried  on  man, 
And  then  she  made  the  lassies,  O  !  " 

Not  even  these,  far  above  the  'prentice  work,  can  claim 
perfection  ;  but  to  compare  Judge  Davis  with  Horace  Gree- 
ley, and  say  that  one  was  no  better  than  the  other — well, 
it  is  ungrateful,  to  say  the  least  of  it;  and  whenever  we 
speak  thus  disparagingly  of  our  friends  in  the  North,  and 
say  that  those  there  who  are  battling  for  our  rights  are  no 
better  than  those  who  are  helping  to  oppress  us,  shall  we  be 
surprised  if  our  friends  in  the  North  continue  to  fall  away 
from  us?  No  people  can  long  retain  friends  who  do  not 
treat  them  right  when  they  do  have  them.  Even  the  gal- 
lant Voorhees,  who  has  always  fought  the  fight,  kept  the 
faith — always  been  true  to  the  flag  of  Democratic  princi- 
ples— is  maligned  and  misrepresented ;  and  papers  and  men, 
calling  themselves  Democrats,  charge  that  he  has  been 
bought  up  by  Grant,  only  because  he  is  not  willing  to  take 
a  Radical  that  is  just  as  much  a  Radical  as  Grant  or  anybody 
else.  [Applause.] 

What  are  you  going  to  get  by  it?  Why,  I  am  told,  if 
the  Democratic  party  elects  Greeley,  he  will  be  good  to  us. 
Give  us  something!  [Laughter.]  What  is  he  going  to  give 
us?  Give  us  any  principles?  Where  is  the  principle  he  is 
going  to  give?  He  has  not  even  said  that  he  is  going  to 
give  us  anything;  but  the  hope  is  that  he  is  going  to  give 
some  of  us,  who  are  walling  to  take  it,  a  little  share  of  the 
plunder.  [Laughter.]  Was  there  ever  a  more  proper  ap- 
plication of  the  motto,  "Fear  the  Greeks  when  they  are 
bringing  gifts?"  Fear  the  Radicals  when  they  are  bring- 
ing gifts  ;  and  I  tell  you  that  Radicals  will  never,  never  give 
you  any  gifts — only  to  persuade  you  away  from  your  prin- 
ciples. Greeley  wants  you  to  swap  your  principles  for  a 
few  pitiful  little  offices  for  sonic  people  [laughter]  ;  and  I  don't 
know  whether  sonic  people  will  ever  get  the  offices  or  not ; 
and  I  would  not  care. 

But  you  say  the  Democratic  party  is  so  much  bigger  than 
Greeley's  little  segment,  that  has  to  do  this  great  work  of 
electing  him — and  that  is  not  done  yet  [laughter] — that  it 
will  swallow  up  the  little  Greeley  concern ;  and  it  has  been 
wittily  put:  "  Can  a  minnow  swallow  a  whale?"  No!  A 


3/6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

minnow  cannot  swallow  a  whale !  but  even  a  whale,  if  he 
be  passive  and  float  upon  the  water,  without  putting  forth 
his  fin-power,  could  be  floated  by  a  set  of  little  minnows 
into  any  convenient  harbor.  And  this  coalition  is  never  to 
be  formed,  except  upon  the  condition  that  all  the  Democracy 
that  has  influence  is  to  become  passive — to  become  dormant. 
We  are  to  quit  struggling  to  secure  Democratic  principles, 
and  to  go  to  fighting  to  secure  the  election  of  a  Radical. 

Well,  I  have  seen  little  steam-tugs  move  great  men-of- 
war  on  the  deep ;  I  have  seen  them  pull  them  into  the  har- 
bor: if  the  man-of-war  will  only  let  off  its  steam  and  become 
passive,  the  little  tug  can  take  it  safely  in.  And  just  so,  if 
this  great  Democratic  mass  will  turn  off  all  the  Democratic 
steam — Greeley  for  one  tug — one  great  big  tug — Gratz 
Brown  a  little  one  over  in  Missouri — Sumner  a  tug,  too — 
and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  find  a  tug  in  Georgia,  too. 
These  tugs  will  be  perfectly  able  to  land  this  great  Demo- 
cratic leviathan  safely  on  the  Radical  shore  ;  and  that  is  just 
where  you  are  going,  if  you  go  with  Greeley. 

There  is  nothing  in  that  but  a  new  phase  of  the  "new 
departure. "  That  was  a  proposition  to  sanction  all  the  usurp- 
ations— to  quit  being  Democrats — to  radicalize  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  accept  the  new  principle  of  centralism — 
unlimited  power ;  and  Greeleyism  is  nothing  but  a  more  vir- 
ulent type  of  that  same  disease.  God  forbid  that  anybody 
should  understand  me  as  intimating  that  the  great  number 
of  people  who  have  been,  like  my  friend,  who  so  eloquently 
addressed  you  just  now  (General  Garlington),  debating  the 
question  whether  to  go  for  Greeley  or  not,  should  be  held 
by  me  as  tainted  by  the  Radical  party!  Not  at  all!  I  beg 
you  not  to  take  the  step  ;  because,  if  you  do,  they  will  radi- 
calize you.  There  cannot  be  any  other  result. 

General  Grant  said,  "Let  us  have  peace;"  the  new  de- 
parture and  Greeleyism  mean  the  same  thing  ;  it  is  addressed 
to  your  fears ;  it  is  addressed  to  your  sense  of  personal  com- 
fort. Buy  your  peace  by  grounding  the  arms  of  your  op- 
position to  Radicalism,  and  acknowledge  our  right  to  rule 
you,  without  limitation,  in  all  things!  That  is  a  peace  I 
never  mean  to  accept!  When  they  give  me  riglit,  1  will 
give  them  peace  and  co-operation  ;  when  the}'  give  me  ivrong, 
I  will  give  them  undying  resistance.  [Applause.]  I  know 
no  way  to  maintain  right  but  by  fighting  wrong.  All  men, 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  377 

who  are  in  favor  of  maintaining  their  r'ghts,  are  called  upon 
to  rally — to  fight  against  the  foul  wrongs  that  have  trodden 
the  right  in  the  dust.  Wherever  you  can  find  it,  strike  a 
blow,  if  it  is  inscribed  on  the  banner  carried  by  Grant,  by 
Sumner,  or  by  Greeley. 

I  understand  the  policy  of  not  pressing  all  your  princi- 
ples upon  a  man  at  one  time,  if  he  will  accept  sonic  vital 
one ;  I  can  understand  the  policy — though  by  no  means  a 
favorite  with  me — of  taking  Judge  Davis  on  account  of  his 
position  on  these  reconstruction  measures,  because  he  held 
that  the  central  government  was  limited,  and  when  it  ex- 
ceeded its  powers,  its  acts  were  null  and  void — and  this  is  a 
great  point.  I  can  understand  that;  but  I  don't  understand 
any  policy  that  can  ever  justify  true  men  in  giving  support 
to  a  Radical  who  does  not  hold  a  single  principle  in  com- 
mon with  you,  and  in  opposition  to  the  other  Radicals. 
Why,  say  some,  Greeley  is  quarreling  with  Grant.  Sumner 
is  quarreling  with  Grant;  Sumner  made  a  great  speech 
against  Grant  the  other  day;  and  what  do  you  reckon  his 
objections  were?  He  charged  Grant  with  usurpation,  but 
it  was  only  that  he  had  usurped  a  power  which  he  said  the 
Senate  should  have  exercised.  It  was  not  the  usurpation, 
but  the  person  who  perpetrated  it,  that  Sumner  complained 
of.  He  has  quarreled  with  Grant,  but  his  only  quarrel  with 
him  was  that  Grant  had  robbed  him  of  his  rights.  He 
complained,  too,  that  Grant  had  violated  the  laws  of  na- 
tions, and  committed  a  great  outrage  upon  a  foreign  black 
republic;  but  did  he  say  one  word  about  any  usurpation 
that  Grant  had  ever  perpetrated  upon  us — upon  folks  at 
home,  either  white  or  black  ? 

Greeley  says  Grant  is  corrupt :  he  takes  gifts  ;  stands  up 
to  his  friends ;  is  guilty  of  excessive  nepotism  ;  but  what 
does  he  say  when  it  comes  to  this  grand  central  question — 
the  solemn  constitutional  obligation  of  the  central  govern- 
ment to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of  citizens,  which,  they 
say,  not  only  justifies  but  requires  them  to  pass  all  these 
odious  measures  under  which  we  have  groaned,  and  under 
which  the  gallant  State  of  South  Carolina  is  groaning  to- 
night? My  God!  how  can  a  South  Carolinian  hesitate  on 
Greeley?  I  put  it  to  my  friend  (turning  to  General  Gar- 
lington),  the  only  way  to  get  out  of  these  tangles  is  to  stand 
by  your  principles  and  by  your  guns.  [Applause.] 

34 


3/8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

It  is  a  prime  rule  in  whist,  when  you  don't  know  what  to 
play,  to  play  ' '  trumps ;  "  and  if  you  don't  know  who  to  vote 
for,  play  trumps;  for  trumps  are  always  principles.  I  know 
something  about  Grant  and  Greeley's  common  principles: 
they  put  the  Enforcement  act  upon  us.  I  met  them  with 
argument ;  I  whipped  the  fight.  I  well  remember  the  words 
of  cheer  which  were  given  me  in  that  contest  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  their  rejoicing  in  my  triumph.  I  was  proud,  and 
it  made  my  heart  glad  to  see  your  devotion  to  principle. 
But  I  did  not  whip  the  fight  by  running  away  from  it,  but 
by  fighting  it  with  all  the  strength  that  God  had  given  me. 
It  is  only  by  fighting  Radicalism  that  you  can  do  anything. 
Democrats  can't  succeed  by  yielding  their  principles,  or  ceas- 
ing to  fight  their  enemies.  The  Atlanta  Democrats  never 
acted  on  that  idea.  I  have  known  the  Democrats  of  Fulton 
county  when  they  were  in  the  minority:  they  have  made  it 
a  glorious  majority  by  fighting.  Georgia  didn't  act  that 
way — cease  to  fight. 

The  Democratic  convention,  which  assembled  in  this  city 
last  August  a  year  ago,  had  principles  in  it.  It  was  abso- 
lutely a  Bourbon  platform;  it  was  actually  written  by  a 
Bourbon,  who  is  one  of  the  strictest  of  the  sect;  and  under 
that  Bourbon  platform  you  tore  Bullock  and  his  foul  confed- 
erates from  the  throne,  and  put  a  Legislature  and  a  Gov- 
ernor there  of  whom  you  are  proud  to-day.  A  Bourbon ! 
They  say  a  Bourbon  never  forgets  and  never  learns.  Well, 
I  tell  you,  I  can  never  learn  the  new  lesson  they  want  to 
teach  me  until  I  forget  all  I  know  and  knew  before;  and  as 
long  as  life  shall  last,  and  I  preserve  the  principles  with 
which  1  was  born,  I  shall  refuse  to  learn  the  new  lesson. 
They  would  teach  me  to  advance  my  principles  by  support- 
ing my  worst  enemy. 

But  it  is  said  we  can't  do  anything!  They  say  the  De- 
mocracy was  whipped  in  '68,  and  there's  an  end  of  the  argu- 
ment. Well,  the  Democrats  were  very  badly  whipped  in 
1840;  they  were  about  as  badly  whipped  a  set  of  fellows  as 
I  ever  saw.  They  did  not  think  it  was  the  end ;  they  fought 
on;  they  whipped  the  Whigs,  in  1844,  almost  as  badly  as 
they  got  whipped  in  1840.  In  1848  they  were  whipped 
again  ;  they  did  not  quit  the  fight.  In  1 852  they  were  again 
successful;  they  elected  Pierce.  In  1856  they  elected  Buch- 
anan ;  and  those  are  the  only  two  consecutive  triumphs  of 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  379 

the  Democratic  party,  in  a  presidential  contest,  since  my  rec- 
ollection. The  next  time  they  lost  again.  When  people 
tell  me  that,  because  they  lost  in  1868,  they  can't  succeed 
no\v,  I  know  they  don't  understand  these  American  people, 
or  else  they  want  to  deceive  me — one  or  the  other.  No  man 
comprehends  the  people  of  these  States,  unless  he  under- 
stands that  there  is  a  vast  ma.ss  of  the  people  who  don't  owe 
any  party  a^iegiance,  and  that  they  go  in  each  campaign 
according  to  the  issues  of  the  times. 

Whipped  in  1868!  How  could  it  have  been  otherwise? 
That  platforn  said  the  reconstruction  acts  were  revolutionary, 
unconstitutional,  null  and  void;  and  the  doctrine  of  that 
platform  was,  that  the  bayonet  ought  to  be  withdrawn,  and 
the  people  left  free  to  resume  State-rights,  fo^m  their  own 
State  Constitutions  and  organizations.  That  was  the  doc- 
trine of  that  platform.  Well,  Seymour  would  never  get  up 
on  it;  he  never  would  say  that  the  reconstruction  acts  were 
revolutionary,  unconstitutional,  null  and  void;  and  Frank 
Blair — he  wrote  his  Broadhead  letter,  and  said  that  the  bay- 
onet ought  to  undo  what  it  had  wrongfully  done.  Frank 
jumped  clean  over  the  platform.  And  this  is  the  way  the 
platform  stood :  one-half  on  one  side,  afraid  to  get  up ;  the 
other  naif  jumped  clean  over,  and  on  the  other  side,  and 
the  two  held  together  by  nothing  but  the  ligature  of  a  com- 
mon nomination.  The  two  candidates  were  like  a  pair  of 
saddle-bags.  And  then  the  New  York  World  refused  to 
support  the  candidates,  and  said  that  even  these  saddle-bags 
should  be  taken  down. 

Yes,  we  were  whipped  in  1868;  but  remember  that,  in 
1870,  the  elections  in  the  Northern  States  went  vastly  in 
favor  of  the  Democrats,  with  substantial  gains  in  Congress. 
The  new  departure  was  sprung  to  stop  the  mischief;  the 
Democratic  work  was  going  on  too  well ;  it  had  to  be  stop- 
ped, and  the  new  departure  was  put  forward  to  stop  it ;  and 
now  Greeley  comes.  The  first  gun  that  fires  under  them  is 
Oregon — gone  Radical  now.  It  is  true — and  I  thank  God 
it  is — that  the  best  way  to  gain  victory  is  to  deserve  it. 
There  is  more  power  in  the  truth  than  there  is  in  falsehood. 
There  is  more  in  right  than  there  is  in  wrong;  and  if  you 
have  got  but  true  men,  whether  few  or  many,  relatively, 
that  is  the  road  of  success  as  well  as  of  honor. 

There  is  another  great  question — I  began  by  saying  there 


380  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

were  two — and  the  other  is,  Shall  the  Democratic  party  gov- 
ern the  Baltimore  convention,  or  shall  the  Baltimore  con- 
vention govern  the  Democratic  party?  Shall  the  principal 
govern  the  agent,  or  the  agent  the  principal?  Shall  the 
servant  obey  the  master,  or  the  master  the  servant  ?  There 
is  a  cry  now,  "  Let  us  all  go  to  Baltimore  ;  we  won't  discuss 
it;  we  won't  decide  anything  here — go  to  Baltimore;  "  and 
this  when  the  proposition  to  be  discussed  at  Baltimore  is, 
whether  or  not  Democratic  principles  are  to  be  advanced  by 
trusting  them  to  the  keeping  of  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Radicals  ? 

If  I  were  in  the  church,  I  would  as  soon  think  of  abiding 
by  the  decision  of  the  church,  if  the  question  debated  was 
whether  Christ  should  be  repudiated,  and  Mahomet  or 
Juggernaut  substituted  instead.  I  abide  by  the  Democratic 
party  as  long  as  it  remains  a  Democratic  party,  and  no  lon- 
ger ;  I  abide  by  the  Democratic  party  so  long  as  it  main- 
tains Democratic  principles — or  some  vital  one,  at  least,  of  the 
Democratic  principles — and  no  longer.  I  don 't  mean  anything 
harsh,  but  simply  to  tell  you  a  plain  truth — that  1  regard 
any  body  of  men,  associated  politically  for  any  purpose  other 
than  to  maintain  principles,  as  no  better  than  a  band  of 
spoilsmen,  bound  together  for  plunder.  The  only  cause  of 
allegiance  that  binds  a  true  man  to  any  party,  is  the  faith 
that  it  teaches.  Suppose  the  Baltimore  convention  nom- 
inates Grant,  will  you  take  him  ?  [A  voice — "  No  !"]  Sup- 
pose it  nominates  Greeley,  why  take  him  in  preference  to 
Grant?  He  is  no  better. 

They  say  he  is  an  honest  man — a  good  man.  They  talk 
about  his  old  white  hat,  and  make  jokes  about  his  old  white 
coat,  to  put  people  in  a  good  humor.  May  be  it  is  like  a 
Bourbon  to  have  a  memory,  and  I  have  not  lost  mine.  1 
remember  he  was  the  man  that  raised  his  voice  in  the  North, 
and  said  we  had  the  right  to  secede,  and  that  if  the  North 
made  war  upon  us,  it  would  be  a  crime.  Yes,  he  said  "  let 
the  wayward  sisters  go  in  peace. "  After  the  war  began  he, 
too,  raised  the  cry  of  war ;  and,  to  show  how  malignant  he 
was,  he  said  that,  when  the  war  was  over,  the  rebels  should 
not  go  free,  but  should  have  a  punishment.  Hear  it !  hear 
it!  Southrons,  hear  it !  Georgians,  hear  it !  Georgia  men 
and  Georgia  women,  he  said  they  should  have  a  punishment 
that  could  be  read  in  the  anxious  faces  of  our  mothers,  and 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  381 

the  rags  of  our  children !  That's  what  he  said.  Save  me 
from  all  such  honesty  as  that.  I  believe  I  would  rather 
trust  the  honesty  of  Bullock  himself  than  such  honesty  as 
that.  Treachery  is  what  I  call  it ;  malignity  is  what  I  call 
it — not  benevolence.  I  don't  want  to  "shake  hands  over 
such  a  chasm. "  I  will  tell  you  when  I  will  ' '  shake  hands  over 
the  bloody  chasm  :  "  when  he  comes  and  o.Ters  me  his  hand 
over  these  enforcement  acts,  and  the  ku-klux  act — under 
which  South  Carolina  is  groaning  this  night — and  offers  to 
shake  hands  with  me,  and  swrears  on  these  locked  hands  that 
he  gives  up  his  principles,  and  that  these  so-called  laws  shall 
be  repealed,  and  never  be  repeated,  and  gives  up  the  prin- 
ciple that  our  rights  are  subject  to  the  obligation  of  the  cen- 
tral power  to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of  citizens,  then  I 
will  shake  hands  with  him,  and  not  before.  [Applause.] 

I  want  no  Judas'  kisses  nor  Judas'  shaking  of  the  hand  ; 
and  I  will  kiss  no  man,  and  I  would  not  kiss  even  any  wo- 
man [applause],  much  as  I  love  them — and  God  knows  I 
love  to  live  to  love  them  [applause] — I  would  not  even  ac- 
cept a  woman's  lips  that  came  to  offer  Delilah's  kiss.  Talk- 
to  me  about  abiding  the  Baltimore  convention  !  I  \vill  abide 
by  it  in  all  questions  of  policy,  but  I  will  not  abide  by  that 
convention,  nor  any  other  convention  that  bids  me  depart 
from  principle;  and  I  want  to  know  if  these  gentlemen  who 
say  stand  by  the  Baltimore  convention,  whatever  they  do, 
will  stand  by  it  if  they  adopt  the  Philadelphia  platform  and 
nominate  Grant?  The  Cincinnati  platform  is  no  better  in 
principle  than  the  Philadelphia  platform. 

But  the  office-rot  has  got  among  them  ;  yes,  and  that  is 
what's  the  matter.  They  are  like  Esau — some  of  them: 
they  would  sell  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  I 
don't  speak  of  the  people ;  but  there  are  men  who  are  pin- 
ing for  pottage.  They  have  been  ineligible  ;  they  could 
not  get  a  crumb  for  lo,  these  seven  years.  [Laughter.] 
The  office-rot  is  what  is  the  matter ;  they  seek  plunder. 
There  are  some  who  are  even  willing  to  change  their  posi- 
tion from  the  plundered  to  the  plunderers.  As  for  me,  let 
me  abide  by  the  oppression.  I  would  rather  support  prin- 
ciple than  secure  profit  by  committing  the  deed.  Trust, 
then,  in  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  God.  I  do  verily  believe 
that  He,  not  as  a  speculative  being,  but  as  a  natural  Being, 
rules  every  movement  of  this  whole  earth.  It  is  my  com- 


382  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

fort  and  my  consolation  that  there  is  a  God  who  rules  the 
world,  and  that  if  I  do  not  prove  untrue  to  Him,  I  need  fear 
no  human  oppression  now  nor  hereafter.  Stand  by  His 
good  gifts;  He  gave  us  this  great  right  to  govern  ourselves; 
let  us  not  abandon  it;  let  us  honor,  and  not  dishonor  Him. 

These,  fellow-citizens,  are  my  views  of  the  political  situ- 
ation; these  are  my  resolves  as  to  my  duty.  I  will  go  for 
the  maintenance  of  Democratic  principles;  and  if  I  can't 
get  the  man  who  goes  for  all,  I  will  take  the  one  who  goes 
for  some  of  the  vital  principles  of  the  Democracy ;  I  will 
take  no  subordinate  rights,  but  absolute  State-rights.  The 
way  to  win  is  to  hoist  your  colors.  I  do  not  mean  any  new 
departurists — I  don't  mean  any  radicalized  colors,  but  the 
true  Democratic  State-rights  colors  that  hold  reconstruction 
and  all  its  triumphs  to  be  revolutionary,  unconstitutional, 
null,  and  void.  We  may  not  succeed  in  electing  a  Presi- 
dent in  this  campaign,  but  we  can  put  the  party  on  this  sort 
of  a  platform,  and  give  it  standard-bearers  worthy  to  carry 
its  colors.  We  will  be  in  condition  to  carry  the  next  elec- 
tion ;  but,  at  all  events,  it  will  keep  the  tnitJi  for  future  use. 

I  see  some  say  it  takes  a  very  nice  calculation  to  tell 
whether  Greeiey  has  the  strength  to  succeed.  Well,  my 
God  !  if  there  is  any  doubt,  then,  will  you  hesitate?  I  have 
been  sincere,  and  am  warm,  because  my  whole  soul  is  in 
this  business.  I  do  not  intend  to  die  a  slave  myself,  and  I 
do  not  intend  peacefully  to  submit  to  slavery  as  an  inherit- 
ance for  my  children ;  and,  it  we  cannot  do  anything  else, 
we  can,  at  least,  maintain  the  glorious  party  we  have  inau- 
gurated in  old  Georgia;  and  I  would  rather  to-day  have  the 
Georgia  Democracy  go  forth  into  another  canvass,  true  to 
their  principles,  with  true  standard-bearers,  than  to  have  all 
the  spoils  the  office-seekers  will  ever  get  out  of  Greeiey. 
All  the  favors  Greeiey  would  give  Democrats  would  be  to 
such  Democrats  as  would  never  do  honor  to  their  party. 
You  could  get  all  that  out  of  Grant  if  you  would  go  over  to 
him.  They  say  he  is  scared — he  is  badly  scared  at  the 
prospect  before  him.  Well,  if  you  go  over  to  him,  he  is 
fond  of  his  friends.  If  you  want  peace,  and  \\ill  take  it  on 
his  terms;  if  you  will  acknowledge  his  right  to  lick  you 
whenever  he  wants  to,  he  will  take  off  all  those  enforcement 
acts;  but  they  won't  stay  off  long;  for  as  long  as  the  prin- 
ciple is  acknowledged,  it  has  got  to  bear  its  fruits.  The 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  383 

thistle  will  bear  the  same  fruits  again,  plant  it  in  whatever 
soil  you  may.  You  might  stop  Vesuvius  by  plunging  Stone 
Mountain  into  it,  but  the  fires  would  break  out  at  some  new 
crater.  The  vital  force  may  stop,  for  a  season,  its  opera- 
tion in  one  direction,  but  it  will  break  out  somewhere  else. 
If  you  take  off  the  ku-klux  bill,  they  will  give  you  an  edu- 
cational bill  next;  then  a  religious  bill,  after  awhile,  to  es- 
tablish your  religion. 

Now,  this  constitutional  obligation  they  talk  about,  to 
maintain  the  rights  of  citizens — the  XlVth  and  XVth  mis- 
called amendments,  the  XlVth  and  XVth  frauds,  the  XlVth 
and  XVth  falsehoods,  because  the  XlVth  and  XVth  usurp- 
ations come  last — they  say  they  override  everything  else — 
the  provision  that  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  in 
time  of  peace — everything — these  frauds  which  are  not  in 
the  Constitution  at  all,  and,  if  they  were,  never  could  be 
rightly  construed,  as  they  construe  them — they  say  they 
override  everything  that  was  ever  in  the  Constitution  be- 
fore. As  long  as  this  principle  is  held ;  as  long  as  men  are 
in  power,  who  acknowledge  it;  as  long  as  a  party  cannot 
be  found  in  the  country  to  war  against  that  principle:  that 
principle  will  live  and  flourish.  The  thorn-tree  will  bear 
thorns,  and  the  American  people  will  have  plucked  the  last 
fig  from  the  tree  of  liberty.  [Great  applause.] 

A  few  days  after  the  delivery  of  that  speech — days  of  un- 
remitting toil  in  the  court-room  and  in  the  closet — he  went 
home,  in  an  exhausted  condition  of  health,  to  meet  his  en- 
gagements in  Hancock  Superior  Court.  Employed  on  one 
side  or  the  other  of  every  important  cause,  the  labor  it  im- 
posed quite  overcame  him.  When  the  excitement  of  the 
week — the  gandia  certaminis — had  abated,  he  was  left  in  a 
state  of  complete  nervous  prostration.  On  Friday,  he  was 
confined  to  his  room;  Saturday,  he  was  worse;  and,  al- 
though no  alarm  was  felt,  a  physician  was  called  in. 

During  the  night,  his  condition  became  critical.  At  5 
o'clock  P.  M.,  Sunday,  the  I4th  of  July,  18/2,  he  ceased  to 
breathe. 

Retaining  perfect  consciousness  to  the  last  moment,  and 


384  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

fully  appreciating  his  situation,  with  all  its  relations — past, 
present,  and  future — he  took  his  way  into  the  Great  Dark- 
ness undismayed — dying,  as  he  had  lived,  "fearing  God 
and  knowing  no  other  fear." 

His  obsequies  arc  thus  described  by  Frank  L.  Little, 
Esq.,  at  that  time  editor  of  the  Southern  Times  and  Planter: 

JUDGE  STEPHENS'  BURIAL. 

This  event  occurred  on  Tuesday  morning,  at  10  o'clock. 
By  general  consent,  all  the  places  of  business  had  been 
closed  since  his  death,  and  every  house  was  draped  in 
mourning.  Many  sympathizing  friends  visited  his  residence 
on  Monday;  but,  on  Tuesday,  the  throng  of  people  poured 
in  from  all  sides,  until  hundreds  were  here  to  look,  for  the 
last  time,  upon  the  remains  of  the  deceased,  and  to  assist 
in  the  sad  ceremony  of  his  burial.  Kvery  man,  and  woman, 
and  child  seemed  to  be  bowing  under  the  consciousness  of 
individual  loss,  and  the  general  gloom  was  deeper  than  \ve 
have  ever  seen  it  before.  The  few  words  spoken  were  in  a 
suppressed  tone,  and  were  all  about  the  great  loss  to  his 
family  and  country. 

When  the  appointed  hour  for  the  burial  had  arrived,  the 
plate  was  adjusted  over  the  glass,  and  the  pall-bearers,  in 
the  following  order,  bore  him  from  the  library,  where  his 
remains  had  been  lying,  to  the  open  grave : 

WM.  W.  SIMPSON  and  CAPTAIN  L.  L.  LAMAR. 
L.  PIERCE,  Jr.,  and  J.  CLARENCE  SIMMONS. 
HENRY  H.  CULVER  and  DR.  E.  D.  ALFRIEND. 
HENRY  HARRIS  and  F.  L.  LITTLE. 

The  grave  is  just  in  front  of  his  residence,  beautifully  sur- 
rounded with  shrubbery  and  embowered  vith  shade-trees. 
Under  the  reading  of  the  impressive  words  of  the  burial- 
service,  by  his  life-long  friend,  Colonel  C.  \Y.  DuBose, 
whose  voice  was  tremulous  with  his  o\vn  deep  emotions, 
not  many  eyes  remained  dry.  This  ended,  the  grave  was 
soon  filled,  and  all  that  was  mortal  of  this  distinguished 
man  hid  away  forever  from  the  sight  of  friends  and  loved 
ones.  His  body  "was  committed  to  the  dust,  his  soul  to 
the  God  who  trave  it.' 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHEN'S.  385 

Not  least  of  the  significant  and  affecting  circumstances  of 
his  funeral  rites  was  the  large  number  of  colored  people 
who  were  present  to  testify  their  sense  of  sorrow  at  the 
common  loss  and  pay  respect  to  his  memory.  Their  houses, 
too,  were  "draped  in  mourning,"  and  they  wept  over  the 
grave  of  their  real  benefactor  and  friend,  whose  counsels,  in 
the  early  days  of  emancipation,  they  did  not  heed,  but 
which  later  and  riper  experience  had  taught  them  were  sal- 
utary and  wise:  for,  to  all  men,  at  all  times,  he  spoke  tntc 
things  rather  than  pleasing  things — "\'cra pro  gratis." 

In  stature,  Judge  Stephens  stood  six  feet,  with  more  bone 
and  muscle  than  flesh.  All  the  features  of  his  face  were 
distinctly  marked.  His  forehead,  broad  at  the  base,  broad- 
ened as  it  ascended  to  the  region  of  what  phrenologists  de- 
nominate Causality,  Comparison,  and  Ideality.  In  youth, 
he  had  a  thick  suit  of  dark-brown  hair,  inclined  to  curl  and 
crisp,  which  time  somewhat  whitened,  but  scarcely  thinned. 
His  was  a  deep-set,  clear,  blue  eye,  which,  in  repose,  wore  an 
expression  of  thoughtfulness  and  almost  unworldly  sadness  ; 
in  moments  of  hilarity,  it  laughed  with  rich,  soft  light,  be- 
traying an  almost  feminine  tenderness  and  gentleness ;  whilst, 
on  occasions  which  called  into  exercise  the  heroic  virtues, 
or  excited  the  sterner  passions  of  anger  or  indignation,  it 
flashed  forth  a  flame  that  was  terrible  to  the  trembling  trans- 
gressor. His  nose,  fashioned  rather  alter  the  Roman  than 
the  Grecian  mould,  was  large  and  prominent ;  his  chin,  more 
broad  than  sharp,  lent  a  Spartan  resolution  to  the  whole  ex- 
pression of  his  face ;  his  head,  like  Napoleon's  and  Frank- 
lin's, grew  larger  after  he  had  passed  his  third  decade.  His 
dress,  never  sloven,  was  sometimes  negligent;  he  cared  lit- 
tle for  the  fit  of  a  garment,  if  it  sat  easy  and  was  unsoilcd. 

The  handwriting  of  Judge  Stephens  was  remarkably  legi- 
ble, and  somewhat  feminine  in  type  ;  it  was  formed  upon  no 
model,  and  resembled  none  I  ever  saw.  With  abundant 


386  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

indications  to  show  that  he  used  the  pen  with  ease  and  rap- 
idity, there  are  seldom  to  be  discovered  any  signs  of  hurry — 
none  of  carelessness.  In  the  large  number  of  letters  which 
I  have  had  occasion  to  examine,  there  are  to  be  found  very 
few  interlineations,  and  not  more  than  one  or  two  erasures. 
In  this  respect,  his  manuscript  was  as  unblemished  as  one 
of  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams',  of  whom  it  has  been  related 
that  he  never  made  an  alteration  on  the  written  page  during 
the  last  fifty  years  of  his  busy  life. 

In  social  life,  he  avoided  the  crowd.  The  circle  of  his 
intimate  friends  was  not  a  large  one  ;  but  of  that  "charmed 
circle"  he  was  the  idol;  and,  perhaps,  it  is  not  extravagant 
to  record  that,  while  the  death  of  many  Georgians  has  cre- 
ated a  sorrow  more  extensive  in  its  range,  the  death  of  none 
ever  penetrated  the  hearts  of  so  large  a  number  with  an 
anguish  so  personal,  so  near,  so  keen,  so  bitter  as  that  occa- 
sioned by  the  death  of  Linton  Stephens.  How  many  felt 
as  did  the  large-hearted,  stalwart  man  feel  when,  standing 
by  the  open  grave  of  Daniel  Webster,  he  said:  "How 

LONESOME  THE  WORLD  SEEMS !  " 

Judge  Stephens  was  an  earnest  student  throughout  his  life. 
He  had  studied  men,  and  knew  them  well ;  his  judgments  of 
character,  sometimes  almost  intuitively  formed,  were  rarely 
erroneous.  It  was  in  books,  however,  that  he  found  the 
chiefest  source  of  intellectual  enjoyment ;  they  were  his  pas- 
sion and  delight — pra'sidiuni  ct  duke  dcais. 

He  did  not  cultivate,  with  any  great  degree  of  assiduity, 
the  knowledge  of  Greek,  imperfectly  acquired  at  college  ; 
but  his  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  and  literature  was 
extensive,  accurate,  and  intimate.  Tacitus,  Cicero,  and 
Horace  were  special  favorites — each  of  his  kind.  His  knowl- 
edge of  the  best  English  authors,  both  of  prose  and  verse, 
was  comprehensive,  various,  and  wonderfully  exact,  for  one 
whose  vocation  was  the  study  and  mastery  of  the  "jealous 
science  of  the  law."  Bacon  and  Burke,  <f  welded  together," 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  387 

he  said,  would  have  made  the  grandest  character  in  IvVory. 
It  is  safe  to  say,  he  had  no  superior  in  the  State  in  a  pro- 
found and  philosophical  knowledge  of  English  and  Ameri- 
can history — political,  ecclesiastical,  or  literary.  He  re- 
garded Hume,  in  style,  as  the  Prince  of  British  historians — 
neat,  perspicuous,  nervous,  condensed — far  surpassing,  for 
that  sort  of  writing,  the  elaborate  finish  of  Gibbon — matc- 
riam  supcrabat  opus — the  stately  elegance  of  Robertson,  of 
the  studied,  breathless  antitheses  of  Macaulay. 

Of  American  historians,  he  esteemed  Motley  before  Ban- 
croft or  Prescott.  Prescott  was  too  precise  as  to  little  mat- 
ters; Bancroft  had  more  words  than  ideas.  Acidison,  among 
all  the  English  fine  writers  of  prose,  he  admired  most,  in 
sentiment  as  well  as  style.  He  has  been  heard  to  say,  that 
"Washington  Irving  was  the  Addison  of  America. "  "Dean 
Swift,"  he  said,  "was  a  dirty  dog,  but  no  man  ever  wrote 
or  uttered  the  Saxon  of  our  tongue  so  vigorously  as  Dean 
Swift."  Shakspcare  and  the  English  Bible  he  knew  almost 
by  heart.  Pope,  he  said,  was  the  greatest  didactic  poet  of 
any  language;  Burns,  Byron,  Dryden,  Goldsmith — all  of 
different  vein — were  his  companions — each  of  whom  he  had 
studied,  and  thoroughly  appreciated. 

Milton  he  did  not  very  greatly  admire,  for  the  same  rea- 
son that  he  little  affected  Gibbon :  it  required  too  much  01 
palpable,  ostensible  effort  to  ' '  manufacture  the  Milionic  gran- 
deur." The  quiet,  quaint,  half-hid  humor  of  Tristram  Shandy 
he  could  read  and  laugh  over  by  the  hour,  all  day  long ;  and 
lie  said  "Sterne  mistook  his  calling  when  he  put  on  the  sa- 
cerdotal robes."  He  never  could  detect  any  wit  in  Rabe- 
lais; and  he  said,  "  I  have  searched  for  it  in  vain  ;  Toombs 
or  Tom  Thomas  can,  and  frequently  do,  speak  more  witti- 
cisms in  one  night  than  Rabelais,  in  a  lifetime,  wrote. "  Bul- 
wer  was  his  beau-ideal  vi  a  monarch  in  the  realms  of  fiction — 
greater  than  Thackeray,  or  Dickens,  or  Scott,  because  he 
had  a  deeper  and  more  philosophic  insight  into  human  na- 


388  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

ture — especially  in  its  nob'er  manifestations  ;  and  his  great- 
est merit  was  the  beauty,  and  fidelity,  and  delicacy  with 
which  he  portrayed  the  excellence  of  female  character,  in 
its  best  exhibitions.  He  once  said:  "There  is  no  gram- 
mar, and  hardly  a  dictionary,  in  our  language.  Webster  is 
the  best  defincr ;  but  his  orthography,  in  so  many  instances, 
is  not  akin  to  the  etymology ;  for  example,  theater  is  only 
the  step-daughter  of  theatre,  etc.  Home  Tooke  was  the 
greatest  of  English  philologists.  He  knew  the  power  of 
words,  and  made  them  things ;  the  shortest  cut  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  our  mother-tongue  is  through  the  "Diversions  of 
Purley. "  He  had  peculiar  aptitude  and  fondness  for  meta- 
physical study  and  inquiry;  and,  in  the  line  of  speculative 
philosophy,  he  ranked  Sir  William  Hamilton  above  Reid  or 
Stewart — even  alongside  his  great  prototype,  Aristotle. 

He  was  passionately  fond  of  biography — "the  philosophy 
which  teaches  by  example  "  more  aptly  and  specifically  than 
history;  and  he  gave  full  indulgence  to  his  taste  for  that 
sort  of  reading.  "  Kennedy's  Life  of  Wirt "  he  considered 
the  best  specimen  of  American  biography,  whether  regarded 
in  point  of  style,  the  skillful  handling  of  his  material,  the 
delicacy  and  elegance  of  the  portraiture,  or  the  attractive 
light  in  which  he  presents  his  subject,  as  an  example  for  the 
emulation  of  youth. 

His  colloquial  talents  were  of  the  first  rate.  Like  Burke, 
he  talked  because  "his  mind  was  full;"  he  never  opened 
his  mouth  without  having  something  to  say.  His  conversa- 
tion was  alike  instructive  and  entertaining — at  times,  adorned 
with  classical  allusion,  enlivened  with  apt  anecdote,  enriched 
with  prompt  and  sparkling  wit,  and  illustrated  by  serious  or 
comic  incident.  No  man  had  a  keener  appreciation  of  the 
ludicrous,  either  in  incident  or  in  character  ;  and  none  more 
exquisitely  enjoyed  a  well-told  story,  or  better  relished  a  good 
joke;  when  the  humor  was  on  him,  and  the  occasion  to  his 
liking,  few  knew  so  well  how  "to  set  the  table  on  a  roar." 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  389 

All  men  of  mark  have  their  special  theaters  whereon 
their  peculiar  talents  and  abilities  show  to  greatest  advan- 
tage. There  are  those  who  shine  most  brilliantly  in  the 
forum,  addressing  the  bench — like  Toombs  or  PIull — or  ad- 
dressing the  Twelve,  like  Wright  or  Lumpkin  ;  others  there 
are,  whose  Titanic  strength  is  best  displayed  before  delib- 
erative assemblies,  like  Johnson  or  the  elder  Stephens ; 
others,  again,  are  in  their  element  and  in  their  glory  on  the 
hustings,  like  Hill  and  Yancey;  others,  yet  again,  in  the 
lecture-room,  like  McCay  or  LeConte.  I  believe  the  great- 
est exhibitions  of  intellectual  resource  and  power  ever  made 
by  Linton  Stephens  were  in  familiar  conversation,  when,  in- 
spired by  the  topic  under  discussion,  and  conscious  of  no 
effort  on  his  own  part,  he  poured  forth  a  wealth  of  learning 
and  wisdom,  wit,  logic,  and  eloquence,  that  was  marvelous 
to  the  auditor.  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  I  have  known, 
whose  mental  bulk  and  stature  aggrandized  on  approach — 
possibly  some  frailty  may  have  been,  at  the  same  time, 
more  fully  disclosed  to  view — but  his  real  greatness  en- 
larged— it  did  not  diminish. 

Other  and  abler  pens  have,  in  the  preceding  pages,  por- 
trayed him  in  the  character  of  statesman,  jurist,  orator, 
friend:  one,  especially,  has  befittingly  complemented — 
what  his  own  letters  do  not  entirely  reveal — the  excellence 
and  beauty  of  the  endearing  and  nobler  parts  of  his  nature, 
as  daily  exemplified  in  social  and  domestic  life,  and  which, 
lending  a  mild  and  sweet  expression  to  the  sterner  features 
of  great  mental  endowment — severely  cultured — masculine 
will,  unquailing  courage,  complete  the  picture  of  MAN. 

The  affluence  of  just,  discriminate,  appreciative  eulogy, 
which  was  heaped  upon  his  tomb  through  channels  of  the 
public  press,  the  courts,  political  conventions,  primary  as- 
semblies of  the  people,  epistolary  correspondence,  private 
conversation,  is  unequaled,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  any 
citizen  of  the  commonwealth — certainly,  in  that  of  any  one 


39O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

who  never  occupied  the  highest  political  station.  He,  him- 
self, was  unconscious  of  the  space  he  filled  in  the  general 
eye,  and  of  the  hold  he  had  upon  the  popular  heart.  His 
manly  modesty  would  have  crimsoned  at  suggestion  of  the 
fact;  still,  the  sorrow — deep,  boding,  awful — so  keenly 
felt,  so  eloquently  uttered,  when  "tidings  of  his  death  came 
like  wailing  over  the  land,"  avouches  the  truth  that  he  was 
the  foremost  citizen  of  the  State  when  the  awful  curtain 
dropped. 

When  few  of  the  many  testimonials,  in  my  possession,  of 
the  estimation  wherein  he  was  held,  and  of  the  sharp  grief 
the  news  of  his  death  shot  to  the  hearts  of  great  and  good 
men,  who  knew,  appreciated,  admired  him,  are  transcribed, 
my  "labor  of  love"  will  have  been  imperfectly  performed. 

I  am  under  obligations  to  Hon.  Miles  W.  Lewis  for  the 
following  admirable  estimate  of  Judge  Stephens'  character 
as  a  legislator: 

WOODLAWN,  GREENE  COUNTY,  GEORGIA, 
September  24,  1873. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — Yours  of  the  i8th  instant  is  before  me. 
You  state  that  you  are  preparing  a  biographical  memoir  of 
the  late  Judge  Stephens,  and  that,  from  the  frequent  and 
respectful  mention  made  of  me  in  his  correspondence  with 
his  brother,  Alexander,  you  infer  that  we  often  inter- 
changed letters,  and  ask  a  loan  of  them.  It  would  afford 
me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request;  but,  al- 
though Judge  Stephens  and  myself  were  very  intimate,  I 
remember  no  letter  he  ever  wrote  me,  except  such  as  were 
entirely  on  professional  business.  This  I  consider  a  strange 
misfortune,  considering  our  social  relations;  for  I  claim  no 
more  honor  than  is  due  to  truth  when  I  tell  you  that,  al- 
though the  number  of  those  who  partook  of  his  kindness 
and  enjoyed  his  friendship  was  little  less  extensive  than  the 
circle  of  his  acquaintance,  yet  those  with  whom  he  was  in- 
timate, and  to  whom  he  freely  unlocked  the  arcana  of  his 
great  heart,  were  comparatively  very  few,  and  that  I  was 
one  of  the  favored  few. 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  39 

You  also  state  truly  that  I  served  with  him  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  ask  me  to  aid  your  labor  by  giving  you 
my  reminiscences  of  him  as  a  legislator,  to  be  incorporated 
in  the  volume  over  my  own  name.  I  greatly  regret  that 
the  imperfections  of  memory,  the  want  of  data  at  my  com- 
mand, and  press  of  business,  will  render  the  contribution 
unsatisfactory  to  both  of  us,  and  unworthy  of  the  character 
and  talents  of  our  deceased  friend;  but  if  I  can  chisel  out 
even  an  humble  and  unsightly  block  to  fill  up  an  interstice 
in  the  literary  monument  you  are  erecting  to  his  memory, 
it  shall  be  at  your  free  disposal.  You  are  engaged  in  a 
noble  enterprise — no  less  a  one  than  enshrining  in  the  an- 
nals of  biographical  literature,  as  it  is  already  in  the  hearts 
of  his  counrymen,  the  memory  of  one  of  Georgia's  noblest 
and  greatest  dead.  H*s  State  could  have  but  ill  spared  his 
services  at  any  crisis  in  her  history ;  but  at  the  particular 
and  peculiar  time  of  his  death,  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that 
Georgia — yea,  the  whole  Republic — could  have  sustained 
no  greater  loss  in  the  death  of  any  one  of  her  distinguished 
sons.  Who,  that  knew  his  power  and  influence,  can  esti- 
mate the  depth  and  extent  of  the  wound  inflicted  on  con- 
stitutional liberty  by  the  fatal  shaft  which  death  aimed  at 
this  shining  mark?  Might  not  the  administration  of  our 
State  government,  in  all  its  departments  (improved  as  it  has 
been  in  the  recent  past),  have  been  still  purer,  less  selhsh, 
more  patriotic,  more  statesman-like,  and  more  glorious? 
Might  not  the  circle  of  this  improvement,  as  the  ripple  on 
the  agitated  surface  of  the  recently  placid  lake,  have  en- 
larged until  its  influence  would  have  been  felt  throughout 
the  whole  extent  of  this  mighty  confederation  ?  Who  can 
say  nay? 

But  to  the  duty  assigned  me  of  sketching,  as  best  I  may, 
his  characteristics  as  a  legislator.  This  I  can  do  only  in 
general  terms,  being  unable  to  particularize  and  illustrate 
each  trait,  by  striking  incidents  in  his  legislative  career, 
coming  under  rny  own  observation,  from  the  fact  that  we 
served  together  in  but  one  General  Assembly — he  in  the 
House  and  I  in  the  Senate — each  attending  closely  to  the 
business  and  debates  transpiring  in  his  own  branch ;  but 
whenever  I  heard  his  familiar  voice  in  debate,  unless  per- 
sonally engaged  in  important  business  in  the  Senate,  I  al- 
ways repaired  to  the  Representative  hall.  He  never  spoke 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

merely  to  be  talking,  and  for  notoriety;  and  never,  except 
on  matters  of  grave  importance,  and,  usually,  such  as  vi- 
tally affected  the  interests  of  the  (then)  Southern  Confed- 
eracy— such  as  the  conscript  acts,  the  indorsement  by  the 
State  of  the  Confederate  bonds,  the  principles  on  which, 
and  for  which,  the  war  should  be  carried  on,  and  when  and 
how  it  should  be  terminated ;  for  the  discussion  of  these 
important  subjects,  which,  at  that  time,  absorbed  the  inter- 
est and  attention  of  the  whole  South,  he  marshaled  all  his 
intellectual  forces.  These  were  neither  few  nor  feeble,  but 
formidable  to  opponents,  and  such  as  gave  to  allies  assur- 
ance of  victory. 

His  speeches  were  characterized  by  practical — or,  as  it  is 
generally  termed  common — sense,  sound  logic,  animation, 
zeal  (not  "without  knowledge"),  withering  sarcasm,  fine 
discrimination,  and  fervid  eloquence;  in  short,  he  held  in 
his  intellectual  armory,  and  used  as  occasion  demanded,  all 
the  weapons  whose  skillful  handling  constitutes  the  able  de- 
bater and  eloquent  orator.  lie  accomplished  his  purposes 
by  no  maneuvering  or  indirect  means,  but  marched  boldly 
up  to  his  work,  strong  in  his  consciousness  of  right,  fearless 
of  consequences  to  himself,  "asking  no  favors  and  shrink- 
ing from  no  responsibility."  Even  his  opponents  honored 
.him  for  the  purity  of  his  motives,  and  admired  his  great 
ability.  He  was  always  the  champion  of  the  liberty  of  the 
people;  and  if  there  was  any  subject  in  the  whole  range  of 
political  science,  which  he  thoroughly  comprehended,  and 
which  was  the  idol  of  his  patriotic  affections,  that  subject 
was  CONSTITUTIONAL  LIBERTY.  In  its  defense,  he  fought 
his  most  celebrated  battles,  and  achieved  his  most  brilliant 
victories. 

In  the  ordinary  routine  of  legislation,  and  in  his  daily  in- 
tercourse with  his  fellow-members,  he  was  distinguished  by 
the  same  traits  of  character  which  so  signally  marked  his 
conduct  in  social  life.  He  was  truthful,  candid,  guileless, 
generous,  and  brave.  In  each  and  all  these  qualities,  if  he 
ever  had  a  superior,  the  writer  never  saw  him.  This  judg- 
ment is  pronounced  with  no  fear  of  its  being  criticized  or 
questioned  by  those  who  knew  him. 

Pardon  a  short  paragraph  on  one  of  his  prominent  traits 
as  a  lawyer.  His  rare  legal  attainments  will  doubtless  form 
the  subject  of  a  leading  chapter  in  your  memoir;  but  he 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS. 

was  as  magnanimous  and  generous  as  he  was  able  and  elo- 
quent. An  instance  in  point  I  not  only  witnessed,  but  ex- 
perienced, and  gratefully  remember.  I  was  engaged  in  the 
defense  of  some  negro  prisoners,  indicted  for  a  crime  which 
rendered  them  so  odious  that  they  were  threatened  with 
Lynch-law,  if  acquitted  in  the  court,  which  placed  their 
counsel  in  a  position  by  no  means  enviable.  Friends  warned 
me  of  the  danger  of  a  loss  of  popularity,  and  the  forfeiture 
of  the  friendship  and  patronage  of  the  most  influential  class 
of  society.  In  my  jury-speech,  I  spoke  of  the  seductive 
whisperings  of  ambition  and  vain  warnings  of  pretended  or 
real  friends  that  had  been  breathed  into  my  ear — treated 
them  all  (I  trust)  with  becoming  contempt,  and  made  the 
best  defense  I  could,  under  the  circumstances.  Judge  Ste- 
phens follov.-ed  me  in  the  prosecution.  Never  shall  I  forget 
his  look  of  approval,  as  advancing  to  me,  when  I  s.it  down, 
he  said:  "Miles,  who  has  been  talking  in  that  vvay  about 
you?"  After  informing  him,  he  opened  one  of  his  most 
masterly  efforts  by  paying  me  a  high  compliment  for  the 
force  of  the  argument,  and  the  honor  I  had  reflected  on  the 
profession,  by  what  he  termed  rny  manly  and  independent 
bearing  m  the  case.  Then  followed  a  withering  rebuke  to 
my  would-be  friends  for  endeavoring  to  turn  me  aside  from 
the  path  of  professional  duty.  I  then  felt,  and  still  feel, 
richly  compensated  for  any  danger  I  was  in  from  the  malev- 
olence of  enemies  or  the  desertion  of  friends.  But  lest  I 
transcend  the  limits  assigned  me,  I  will  close  this  imperfect 
sketch  of  our  departed  friend  with  a  familiar,  but  appropri- 
ate, couplet  from  the  ancient  classics: 

"  Clarum  et  venerabile  nomen, 

Gentibus,  et  multuin  nosta?  quod  proderat  urbi." 

Yours,  truly,  MILES  W.  LEWIS. 

The  Hon.  Richard  H.  Clark  thus  graphically  and  elegantly 
describes  the  effect  of  one  of  Judge  Stephens'  speeches  in 
the  General  Assembly  in  1854: 

The  State  capitol  was  located  in  Milledgeville  in  (I  be- 
lieve) the  year  1807,  because  it  was  the  nearest  practical 

35 


394  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

geographical  center  of  the  State.  This  was  before  the  day 
of  railroads,  and  before  there  were  settlements  beyond  the 
Ocmulgee.  When  Cherokee,  Western,  and  Southwestern 
Georgia  became  settled,  the  lands  of  the  Creeks  and  Chero- 
kees  occupied,  and  the  railroad  system  of  the-  State  estab- 
lished, Milledgcville  was  left  rather  out  of  the  way  for  the 
great  majority  of  the  white,  or  business,  population.  The 
removal  of  the  capitol  to  Macon  or  Atlanta  beg.m  to  be 
mooted,  and,  at  the  session  of  1847,  took  shape  in  the  effort 
to  pass  a  law  to  that  effect.  Then,  and  after,  the  move 
would  have  succeeded,  if  all  the  friends  of  removal  could 
have  agreed  on  the  site;  but  the  contest  between  Ivlacon 
and  Atlanta  operated  to  keep  the  capitol  at  Milledgeville. 
The  removal  feeling,  nevertheless,  continued  to  grow  until 
the  sessions  of  i853-'4.  An  act  passed  "the  House"  to 
move  the  capitol  to  Macon.  J5y  a  count  of  the  Senate, 
it  was  ascertained  that  the  same  act  would  pass  that  bod}'. 
This  knowledge  created  intense  interest  among  "he  people 
of  Milledgeville.  They /-//that  all  their  real  estate  would, 
by  the  removal,  become  as  ashes  on  their  hands,  and  this, 
with  many,  was  absolute  poverty.  Every  man,  and,  in- 
deed, woman,  and  even  children,  turned  out  to  "stem  the 
tide  "  in  the  Senate.  I  have  never  witnessed  any  excitement, 
of  tJic  kind,  so  intense,  deep,  and  pervading.  The  bill  was 
made  the  special  order  for  a  day  in  (I  think')  February,  1854. 
On  that  day,  before  the  hour  for  the  special  order  had  ar- 
rived, the  gallery,  the  lobby,  the  aisles,  the  windows — every- 
where that  sitting  or  standing-room  could  be  had — -was  filled 
with  the  population  of  Milledgeville.  The  oldest  citizens — 
such  as  the  eldest  McComb — were  furnished  with  the  most 
comfortable  and  mogt  conspicuous  seats.  If  all  of  them 
had  been  on  trial  for  their  lives,  they  could  not  have  looked 
more  serious,  more  anxious,  or  more  troubled.  We,  who 
were/my/  for  the  removal,  were  moved  with  compassion  at 
the  sight;  yet,  we  felt  it  a  public  duty  that  must  be  dis- 
charged, and  the  people  of  Milledgeville  had  our  deepest 
sympathy  in  our  reali/ation  that  nothing  that  could  be  done 
would  prevent  the  enactment  of  the  law  for  the  removal. 
They  had  always  been  the  kindest  of  people — all,  even  to 
the  negro  servants,  who  were  the  best  collection  in  the  State. 
There  is  no  man,  with  both  sense  and  sou!,  who  has  ever 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  395 

attachment  for  the  place  and  people,  and  one  that  must  be 
a  dear  memory,  even  down  to  the  latest  period  of  the  long- 
est liver.  Especially  so  it  must  be  with  those  who  passed 
there  those  long  biennial  sessions  of  some  ninety  days,  and 
remained  all  the  while  as  the  guests  of  the  very  aged  Mrs. 
Huson,  or  of  (as  he  was  familiarly  called)  "Old  Bob  Mc- 
Comb."  When  the  time  came  and  the  special  order  was 
taken  up,  there  was  the  most  profound  silence.  It  was  of 
a  kind  that  reminded  one  of  a  funeral  occasion,  when  men 
and  women  were  gathered  to  pay  the  last  sad  rites  to  a  dear 
friend,  just  preceding  the  burial.  Now,  this  simile  is  appro- 
priate; for  a  majority  of  the  Senate  then  proposed  to  bury 
forever  dear  old  Miilcdgeville,  the  capital  of  Georgia;  and 
her  whole  population  had  come  out  as  mourners.  My  mem- 
ory fails  me,  if  any  effort  was  made  in  the  way  for  or  against 
the  bill,  before  the  speech  of  Judge  Stephens.  I  think  net; 
but  if  so,  the  efforts  were  not  marked  by  an}-  length  or 
power.  I  /iv/Oa'  that  several  of  the  most  effective  speakers 
on  the  removal  side  were  reserved  for  closing  the  debate. 
The  Milledgeville  people  had  made  a  strong  friend  of  Judge 
Stephens.  His  friendship  was  not  merely  political — it  was 
personal,  z.n&  feelingly  personal.  He  was  their  champion — 
indeed,  all  their  hopes  were  centered  in  him — to  check  the 
current  that  was  fast  and  forcibly  running  against  them.  It 
was  an  occasion  where  everything  conspired  to  a  successful 
effort.  There  was  the  subject — the  people,  the  interests, 
the  affections,  the  time,  the  audience,  TJIF  ORATOR.  It  is 
useless — indeed,  it  is  impossible — to  describe  the  oration. 
It  lasted  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  as  much  was  said  as 
was  possible  for  man  to  embrace  in  that  much  time.  For 
logic,  for  pathos,  for  humor,  for  ingenuity,  it  was  grand ; 
and,  if  judged  by  its  effects,  it  was  unsurpassed.  The  si- 
lence that  prevailed  at  the  beginning  became,  if  possible, 
deeper,  as  the  orator  proceeded.  The  Milledgeville  men 
and  women  wept  tears  of  joy,  and  the  most  inveterate 
removal  man  looked  ashamed  of  the  deed  he  was  about  to 
commit;  and,  before  Judge  Stephens  concluded,  we  re- 
garded "Old  Bob  McComb,"  and  his  sort,  as  bearing  "a 
charmed  life,"  and  that  it  was  sacrilege  to.  touch  their  per- 
son or  property,  either  indirectly  or  directly,  with  or  with- 
out the  forms  of  law.  I  do  not  remember,  except  on  one 
occasion,  that  all  the  feeling  I  had  was  one  of  enthusiastic 


396  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

admiration  for  the  genius  of  tJic  speaker.  This  feeling  so 
took  possession  of  me  that,  in  casting-  my  eyes  to  the  gal- 
lery to  see  the  effect  of  the  oratory  there,  I  discovered  Judge 
Stephens'  wife,  and  the  thought  that,  with  lightning  rap- 
idity came  to  me,  was,  "How  proud  she  must  be  of  her 
husband  !  "  for  if  I,  who  was  no  kinsman,  nor  intimate,  and, 
for  the  occasion,  his  antagonist,  was  proud,  what  must  be 
her  admiration?  The  speaker  not  only  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  both  friend  and  foe,  but  did  what  is  seldom  done — 
ne-i'er,  in  my  knowledge — that  is,  capture  all  of  them.  It 
is  as  true  as  truth  itself,  that,  without  a  demand,  we  laid 
down  our  arms  and  surrendered  at  discretion.  When  Judge 
Stephens  concluded,  it  needed  no  vote  to  tell  the  fate  of  the 
bill.  Every  man  felt  it  stronger  than  language  or  vote  could 
express.  The  Senator  from  Bibb,  Mr.  Dean,  seeing  the 
effect,  endeavored  to  rally  his  voters;  but  it  was  of  no  use. 
He  appealed  to  me  to  answer  Judge  Stephens — a  feat  we 
occasionally  did  for  each  other — and  I  told  him  if  I  tlien 
spoke,  it  would  be  against  Ids  bill,  for  it  would  take  time  to 
get  over  the  spell  of  Stephens'  eloquence.  But  the  vote 
had  to  be  taken  on  (I  believe)  Judge  Stephens'  motion  to 
indefinitely  postpone,  and  there  was  no  one  who  said  ' '  nay, " 
and  that  feebly,  but  the  "  old  guard  "  of  the  removal  army— 
they  who,  through  defeat,  tears,  and  disasters,  yet  had  the 
courage  to  stand  by  their  colors — myself  among  the  rest. 
It  remains  to  be  added,  that  the  effect  of  that  speech  was 
not  merely  to  defeat  removal  tJien,  but  killed  it  so  dead  that 
it  never  kicked  again  until  after  a  four-years'  bloody  war. 
To  prevent  misconstruction,  it  seems  necessary  to  state  that, 
from  the  first,  I  was  in  favor  of  removal.  I  have  often,  in 
the  times  alluded  to,  told  my  Milledgeville  friends  that  the 
"fates  were  against  them,"  and,  at  no  very  distant  da}-,  re- 
moval would  be  accomplished.  When  it  came,  it  came  in 
a  way  I  dreamed  not  of. 

RICHARD  1 1.  CLARK. 

Hon.  Herbert  Fielder  wrote  of  him: 

CUTIIKKRT,  July  24,  1873. 

For  close,  severe,  persistent,    aggressive,  and  irresistible 
logic — upon  fair,  and  open,  and  manly  statement  of  facts — 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  397 

I  know  of  no  man,  among  all  my  acquaintances,  who  was 
his  superior;  and,  I  can  say,  barely  any  who  was,  in  every 
respect,  his  equal.  His  eloquence  was  like  his  logic.  His 
voice  was  musical,  his  manner  was  so  earnest,  and  his  voice 
so  in  harmony  with  his  manner,  and  both  so  true  an  index 
to  the  great  thoughts  that  agitated  his  brain  and  stirred  up 
his  passionate  nature,  that  he  commanded  the  attention  of 
all  grades  of  mind,  from  his  equals  down  to  the  masses. 

When  he  argued  a  question,  he  not  only  was  understood, 
but/?//  by  every  auditor;  and  when  he  was  done,  the  ques- 
tion was  exhausted;  yet,  he  was  neither  prolix  nor  tedi- 
ous. He  followed  wherever  his  convictions  of  truth  led 
him,  and  the  thoughts  he  uttered  came  from  his  great  mind 
clothed  in  the  habiliments  of  sentiment,  affection,  hatred, 
or  contempt,  that  such  thoughts  would  naturally  produce  in 
his  great  and  fearless  heart. 

He  was  only  a  few  years  my  senior,  and  I  can't  remem- 
ber the  time,  since  I  came  to  manhood,  that  I  have  not 
been  accustomed  to  hear  Linton  Stephens  spoken  of  as  a 
model  of  personal  integrity  and  honor. 

But  his  most  distinguished  characteristic  was,  that  he  had 
an  iron  nerve,  a  firmness  and  inflexible  adherence  to  his  con- 
victions of  right,  and  a  fixed  belief  in  the  imperious  neces- 
sity for  doing  what  principle  dictated  in  every  case. 

Other  men  whom  we  know,  and  love  to  honor,  have  tal- 
ents equal,  perhaps,  to  his,  in  some,  and  possibly  superior, 
in  other  respects;  still,  in  others,  fall  below  his  level;  but  I 
know  of  no  man  who  surpassed,  if,  possibly,  any  who 
equaled,  Judge  Stephens  in  the  firmness  and  inflexibility  01 
his  mind,  when  once  made  up  on  any  subject.  Foes  could 
not  intimidate,  nor  friends  persuade,  him  to  abandon  any 
position,  the  correctness  of  which  was  dictated  to  him  by 
his  expanding  powers  of  conception  and  analysis.  .  .  . 
I  am  truly,  etc.,  HERBERT  FIELDER. 

The  following,  from  ex-Governor  Hcrschel  V.  Johnson, 
will  be  read  with  interest: 

SANDY  GROVE,  BARTOW  POST-OFFICE, 
July  4,  1873. 

I  knew  Judge  Stephens  well,  and  I  had  many  interesting 
conversations  with  him  upon  almost  every  subject  that  in- 


398  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

tcrcsts  intelligent  men.  I  estimated  him  highly  as  a  man 
of  strong  and  original  thought,  extensive  learning — espe- 
cially in  his  profession — and  of  marked  independence  and 
fearlessness  in  the  cmbracement  and  advocacy  of  what  he 
believed  to  be  true;  indeed,  [  regard  his  devotion  to  truth 
and  principle  as  the  prominent  element  of  his  character. 
He  was  candid,  patient,  astute,  and  thorough  in  the  inves- 
tigation of  all  questions  which  duty  required  him  to  con- 
sider. In  his  persona]  intercourse,  he  was  amiable,  unas- 
suming, candid,  and  sincere.  It  is  difficult  to  measure  the 
loss  of  such  a  mail,  with  such  intellectual  and  moral  endow- 
ments as  he  possessed  ;  it  was  a  great  public  calamity. 

His  name  and.  career  are  worthy  of  commemoration  ;  the}' 
should  not  be  permitted  to  perish;   and  I  air>  truly  gratified 
that  you  are  crystalizhig  them  into  permanent  and.  enduring 
form.      I  wish  you  all  possible  success. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  sincerely 

Your  obedient  servant  and  friend, 

HKKscma.  V.  JOHNSON. 

The  following  tribute  to  his  memory,  from  the  pen  01 
Hon.  Edward  II.  Pottle,  appeared  in  the  Sparta  'Hiucs  ami 
Planter: 

WAR R  KNTOX ,  J  u  i y  2  7 ,  1 8  /  2 . 

MK.  EDITOR — Permit  me,  through  the  columns  of  your 
paper,  to  offer  my  tribute  to  the  memory  of  your  distin- 
guished citi/.en,  Judge  Linton  Stephens. 

There  is  a  positive  "pleasure  in  grief,  and  T  cannot  refrain 
from  giving  expression  to  some  of  the  emotions  which  his 
death  has  inspired  in  my  own  breast.  Jt  is  a  real  pleasure 
to  me  to  con  over  the  numerous  incidents  in  his  life,  and  in 
them  to  note  how  true:  manhood  may  be  illustrated.  Per- 
haps there  are  few  living,  outside  his  own  family-circle,  who 
knew  him  so  !<>ng  and  so  well  as  myseli,  and  who  have  had 
so  many  opportunities  ior  knowing  the  excellencies  of  his 
character,  just  thirty-two  years  ago,  1  made  his  acquaint- 
ance, when  we  both  were  boys,  in  the  State  University. 
He  was  then  entering  the  Sophomore  class.  His  staid  and 
regular  habits  were  marked,  as  well  as  that  vivacity  which 


JUrGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  399 

followed  him  through  life  ;  and  now,  atter  the  lapse  ol  so 
many  years,  no  changes  were  observable  in  him,  except  de- 
velopments. His  manhood  never  lost  the  type  of  his  boy- 
hood. 

He  had  the  best-trained  mind  I  ever  knew:  its  caste  was 
metaphysical  and  logical ;  and  hence  the  disposition,  patent 
to  every  one,  to  disregard  authority  or  books,  and  rest  his 
conclusions  on  his  own  mental  resources.  In  early  life,  he 
was  a  student:  he  read,  he  studied,  he  thought;  and  what 
he  learned,  he  learned  well — learned  to  treasure  up  in  the 
store-house  of  his  own  wonderful  memory.  He  never  stud- 
ied to  get  ideas,  but  to  compare  them.  Ideas  he  had  of  his 
own ;  and  if,  in  search  of  truth,  he  found  ideas  of  others 
antagonizing  with  his  own,  he  rejected  them,  unless,  tried 
in  the  crucible  of  his  own  severe  logic,  they  were  found  to 
be  the  truth.  He  was  a  man  of  convictions;  and  the  pecu- 
liar emphasis  with  which  he  always  gave  the  word  truth,  in 
his  addresses,  was  a  sure  mark  of  his  devotion  to  it.  There 
was  a  maturity  in  his  mind,  while  in  college,  which  few 
young  men  possess — a  hardness  which  gave  promise  of  a 
useful  and  illustrious  future.  I  well  remember  an  incident 
while  he  was  in  the  Senior  class.  The  subject  of  the  lec- 
ture and  recitation  was,  taxation,  direct  and  indirect,  on  the 
department  of  political  economy.  In  answer  to  a  question 
growing  out  of  the  text,  he  dissented  from  the  author,  and 
the  current  opinions  on  that  subject,  and  the  hour  was  spent 
in  earnest  discussion  between  him  and  the  president,  who, 
at  its  close,  paid  him  a  compliment  which  proved  to  be  a 
prophecy.  The  ease  with  which  he  mastered  his  lesson 
was  a  marvel  to  us  all.  He  always  had  time  for  recreation, 
and  the  lecture-room  always  found  him  ready  for  exercise. 
Unlike  the  most  of  students,  he  had  no  specialties  in  his 
studies;  he  excelled  in  mathematics,  as  well  as  in  other 
branches ;  and  in  debate,  he  showed  the  powers  of  analysis 
which  characterized  him  in  after  life. 

At  his  graduation — where  the  first  honor  was  awarded 
him — no  one  doubted  the  merited  distinction.  His  social 
qualities  imparted  a  charm ;  and  hence  his  popularity  with 
his  companions  at  college.  There  was  a  stream  of  humor 
and  pleasantry  which  never  ran  dry,  and  a  raciness  in  con- 
versation which  has  kept  alive  man}'  of  his  sayings  to  this 
day.  His  friendship  was  warm  and  real,  and  his  attach- 


4OO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

merits  strong.  To  dissolve  them  without  a  struggle  was 
hard  for  him  to  do  with  a  cause. 

I  have  heard  it  said  of  him,  during  his  life,  that  he  was 
inclined  to  skepticism.  This  was  a  great  mistake.  I  never 
knew  one  who,  in  theory,  had  a  more  sacred  regard  for  the 
truth  of  religion  and  its  divine  origin.  It  is  true,  lie  had 
views  which  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of 
some  books;  but  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  he  cordially  re- 
ceived. Not  long  before  his  death,  he  proposed  to  write  a 
treatise  on  one  of  the  topics  of  moral  science,  in  which  he 
intended  to  combat  errors  of  some  good  men,  which,  in  his 
judgment,  tended  to  encourage  unbelief,  and  obscure  the 
real  beauties  of  the  Christian  system  as  revelation  unfolds 
them. 

After  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  him,  I  can 
say  that  I  never  knew  a  man  of  a  warmer  heart;  with  him 
it  was  a  luxury  to  love;  and  some  of  the  most  pleasant  mo- 
ments of  my  life  have  been  spent  with  him  in  recounting 
the  happy  scenes  of  the  home-circle. 

As  a  lawyer,  he  has  left  an  example  worthy  of  universal 
imitation:  honorable  in  his  relations,  faithful  to  his  clients, 
and  devoted  to  truth.  On  the  bench,  he  has  left  an  endur- 
ing monument  to  his  fame  as  a  lawyer' and  his  honesty  as 
a  judge.  In  the  case  of  Hill  (colored)  vs.  The  State,  re- 
ported in  volume  28,  Ga.  R. ,  he  dissented  from  a  majority 
of  the  court  on  a  question  of  great  interest  to  the  bar,  and 
one  affecting  liberty  and  right.  Though  the  accused  was  a 
slave,  he  gave  him  the  benefit  of  a  lofty  principle  of  consti- 
tutional law,  which  was  unanimously  declared  to  be  law, 
subsequently,  in  Washington  vs.  The  State,  36  Ga.  R.,  and 
that,  too,  upon  the  able  dissenting  opinion  which  Judge 
Stephens  had  delivered  in  the  former  case.  Of  this  rever- 
sal, he  was  ever  afterwards  justly  proud,  because  the  deci- 
sion had  settled  a  great  right  which  every  human  being  en- 
joyed under  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the  State.  We 
all  remember  his  grand  orations  in  defense  of  outraged  lib- 
erty and  la\v.  These  utterances  of  his  will  live  in  history 
along  with  the  best-prepared  orations  of  men  who  have  been 
made  immortal. 

In  common  with  your  bereaved  community,  I,  too,  mourn 
the  loss  of  a  friend.  His  warm  hand  I  have  clasped  from 
boyhood  to  the  closing  of  your  last  court. 

"  Friend  after  friend  departs," 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  4O1 

And  the  heart-stricken  and  sad  can  only  find  relief  in  the 
memories  of  the  past  and  the  hopes  of  the  future.  Death 
comes,  and  the  arm  of  affection  cannot  stay  the  stroke.  In 
the  midst  of  life  it  comes — invades  the  family-circle  and 
bears  away  its  victim  to  the  tomb.  It  comes  in  ghastly 
form,  as  well  as  in  sudden  and  resistless  strokes;  it  comes 
to  warn,  and  to  remind  us  that  we  are  mortal;  it  comes  to 
teach  us,  "So  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisdom."  Beneath  its  touch  man's  proud  in- 
tellect is  dethroned ;  and  how  low  he  lies!  The  speaking 
eye  is  dimmed  of  its  luster,  and  the  warm  heart  stops  its 
throbs.  Let  us,  in  this  affliction,  heed  the  note  of  warning 
as  it  comes  from  the  new-made  grave  of  our  honored  friend, 
' '  Be  ye  also  ready !  " 

I  am  yours,  truly,  E.  H.  POTTLE. 

ATLANTA,  July  29,  1872. 

Hox.  A.  IT.  STEPHENS — My  Dear  Sir:  During  the  many 
days  which  have  passed  since  your  bereavement,  thoughts 
of  your  great  sorrow  have  been  ever  before  me.  May  I  be 
allowed  to  express  the  sympathy  I  so  deeply  feel?  To  re- 
alize how  great  the  loss  is  to  you,  I  have  but  to  recall  your 
hours  of  sleepless  watching  at  the  bedside  of  your  brother 
when  he  was  prostrated  with  measles  at  Manassas,  and  the 
privations  to  which  you  subjected  yourself,  when  you  were 
illy  able  to  bear  them,  that  you  micrht  minister  to  his  com- 
fort. 

Let  it  solace  you  now,  my  friend,  to  remember  how  faith- 
fully you  have  discharged  fraternal  obligations ;  and,  al- 
though I  know  the  kind  offices  were  rendered  by  you  in  the 
spirit  of  love,  not  duty,  yet  that  must  have  made  them  more 
grateful  to  him,  and  should  make  the  memory  of  them  the 
more  comforting  to  you.  You  have  another  element  of 
consolation  in  the  knowledge  that  he  was  loved  and  revered 
by  all  who  knew  him  personally,  and  by  many  who  knew 
him  only  as  the  talented  and  distinguished  statesman  and 
the  pure  patriot.  The  great  heart  of  Georgia  sends  forth 
to-day  one  universal  throb  of  regret  at  the  loss  which  she, 
as  a  commonwealth,  has  sustained  in  his  death.  The  good 
and  true  cannot  help  but  admire  the  fealty  with  which  he 
clung  to  his  principles,  while  so  many  are  bowing  to  the 


4O2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

high  priest  of  radicalism  ;  and  all  feel  that  he  has  left  us  at 
a  time  "when  our  need  was  the  sorest,"  of  such  wise  coun- 
sels as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  imparting,  and  the  example 
of  such  unflinching  integrity,  as  he  ever  exhibited.  When 
the  pure  and  excellent  of  earth  pass  through  the  silent  halls 
of  death,  they  find  them  but  the  entrance  to  heaven's  efful- 
gent glory.  Can  we  wish  our  loved  and  lost  back  amid 
the  turmoil  and  strifes  of  tin's  world,  when  we  remember 
that  they  chvcll  with  God,  and  that  the  Lamb,  who  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne,  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  to 
living  fountains  of  water,  and  God  shall  wipe  all  tears  from 
their  eyes? 

Hoping  that  the  rich  consolation  of  the  gospel  may  sus- 
tain you  under  your  heavy  trial,  and  commending  you  to 
Him  who  alone  can  speak  comfort  to  your  sorrowing  heart, 
I  remain,  with  the  highest  admiration  and  most  profound 
respect, 

Your  friend,  MRS.  JAMKS  1 1  INK. 

SANDY  GROVE,  July  18,  1(872. 
HON.  A.  H.  STEPHENS — 


This  stanza  comes  to  me,  unbidden,  upon  the  announce- 
ment of  the  departure  of  your  brother  to  the  spirit-world; 
and  I  hasten  to  give  utterance,  as  far  as  language  is  ade- 
quate, to  rny  unfeigned  grief  and  sympathy.  I  sympathize 
with  you,  with  his  widowed  wife  and  orphaned  children, 
with  his  many  friends  and  admirers,  and  with  the  State  at 
large.  There  are  but  few  hearts,  within  this  numerous 
circle,  that  will  not  heave  a  sigh  that  Linton  Stephens  has 
passed  from  the  scenes  and  activities  of  earth.  lie  was  so 
noble  in  his  nature,  so  stern  and  inflexible  in  his  devotion 
to  truth  and  principle,  so  able  and  eloquent  in  their  advo- 
cacy, so  energetic  and  constant  in  his  labor  for  the  public 
welfare,  that  he  had  impressed  himself  so  deeply  and 
broadly  upon  the  general  mind,  that  lie  had  already,  though 
comparatively  young,  won  the  conviction  in  the  popular 
heart,  that  he  was  ubiquitous,  not  in  a  personal  sense,  but 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  403 

in  the  sense  that  his  fame  occupied  a  field  commensurate 
with  the  vast  interests  of  the  country. 

But  words  of  praise  from  me  are  nothing:  they  are  emp- 
tiness to  you,  who  filled  for  him  alike  the  place  of  father 
and  brother,  and  cherished  both  affections  with  the  deepest 
intensity;  they  are  less  than  emptiness  to  him  who  is  be- 
yond their  reach  ;  but  I  utter  them,  most  sincerely,  for  what 
they  may  be  worth  for  your  consolation.  Oh,  how  myste- 
rious arc  the  ways  of  Providence !  What  lessons  of  pro- 
found humility  are  inculcated  by  the  majesty  of  His  foot- 
steps !  How  uncertain  is  our  probation  here !  How  the 
path  of  life  is  bestrewed  by  monuments  of  sorrow  and  dis- 
appointed hopes!  What  is  called  death  is  always  sad  and 
unwelcome  to  survivors.  Even  when  infancy  is  cut  clown, 
like  a  bud,  by  the  wintry  blast,  or  old  age  is  arrested  in  its 
tottering  steps,  tender  affections  are  severed,  and  anguish 
exudes  from  every  wound  until  the  heart  overflows  with 
bitter  grief;  but  when  manhood,  in  his  prime — in  the  me- 
ridian of  intellectual  maturity,  and  in  the  midst  of  useful- 
ness, surrounded  by  all  that  makes  the  present  happy,  and 
the  future  bright,  in  its  promise ^of  fame  and  distinction — 
is  stricken  down,  the  blow  is  crushing.  But 


Leaves  have  their  time  to  fall, 


And  flowers  to  wither  in  the  North  wind's  breath, 


And  stars  to  set :  but  all — 


Ihou  hast  all  seasons  for  thine,  O  death! 


Calm  resignation  to  the  will  of  God  is  our  duty,  and  its 
performance  is  sweet,  however  mournful,  when  we  recog- 
nize that  He  is  our  Father — "too  wise  to  err  and  too  good 
to  be  unkind."  To  him  I  commend  you,  and  all  the  dear 
ones  clad  in  weeds  of  woe  by  reason  of  this  heavy  bereave- 
ment. Take  comfort  in  these  reflections:  that  he  lived  a 
useful  life,  and  leaves  to  his  family  the  heritage  of  unsullied 
honor;  that,  in  our  view  of  the  mercy  and  wisdom  of  the 
Lord,  he  has  been  summoned  at  the  very  best  time  for  him, 
and  for  those  who  loved  him  so  fondly  ;  that  he  is  not  dead, 
but  lives  in  the  eternal  world,  the  same  identical  man  that 
lie  was  here;  that  lie  has  gone  Jioinc,  just  a  little  in  advance 
of  you  and  all  of  us,  where,  under  the  tutelage  of  angelic 
spirits,  his  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  will  rise,  and 
grow,  and  expand  forever. 


404  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

I  had  a  brief  interview  with  him,  last  January,  in  Atlanta; 
but  the  last  time  I  had  an  opportunity  for  protracted  con- 
versation with  him  was  in  Savannah,  whilst  we  were  attend- 
ing the  Federal  court,  as  counsel  for  Garsed.  \Ye  talked 
frequently,  and  nearly  always  on  religious  topics,  in  which, 
1  thought,  he  took  pleasure.  He  listened  to  my  views  with 
deep  interest;  he  argued  with  me  in  many  of  them,  and, 
as  to  others,  he  expressed  no  opinions;  because,  he  said, 
"  whilst  lie  could  not  combat  them,  he  did  not  rationally  per- 
ceive their  truth. "  But  he  bought  two  or  three  new  church 
works,  intending  to  read  them.  I  never  learned,  however, 
whether  he  read  them,  nor,  if  he  did,  what  impression  they 
made  upon  his  mind.  lie  was  a  lover  of  truth  ;  his  mind 
was  always  open  to  its  reception,  and  I  have  rarely  met  a 
man  freer  from  prejudice  and  educational  bias.  He  was  a 
strong  and  original  thinker.  Few  equaled  him  in  force  and 
perspicuity  of  language,  and  in  the  power  of  condensed,  log- 
ical thought.  I  never  conversed  with  him  without  pleasure 
and  profit.  I  regret  that  the  occasions  of  our  meeting  were 
so  seldom.  If  he  had  remained  here  to  the  usual  limit  of 
man's  appointed  time,  he  would  have  had  no  superior,  as 
he  had  few  peers.  lie  would  have  been  a  conspicuous  figure 
among  the  greatest  actors  of  his  da}-,  and  wielded  tremen- 
dous influence  in  public  affairs.  His  love  of  country  was 
animated  with  the  courage  of  martyrdom  ;  and  constitu- 
tional liberty  had  no  more  able  and  eloquent  defender.  His 
removal  is  a  public  calamity.  But  I  will  say  no  more.  His 
eulogy  is  the  place  which  he  filled  in  the  admiration,  confi- 
dence, and  affections  of  the  people.  May  he  rest  in  peace, 
and  perennial  laurel  cluster  around  his  memory! 

Mrs.  Johnson,  Gertrude,  and  Winder  unite  with  me  in 
these  expressions  of  sympathy.  The  rest  of  my  children 
are  scattered. 

May  the  Lord  bless,  and  console,  and  shield  Linton's 
widow  and  orphans,  and  may  lie  be  the  great  Rock  under 
whose  shade  you  may  retire,  in  this  heavy  tempest  of  sor- 
row, is  the  heart-felt  prayer  of 

Yours,  most  sincerely  and  faithfully, 

HKRSCHF.I.  V.  JOHNSON. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  July  26,  1872. 

MY  DK.AR  MR.  STKHIF.NS — How  my  heart  yearned  towards 
you,  and  for  you,  when  the  telegram  announced  to  us  the 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  405 

death  of  Linton — and  such  a  brother !  Not  one  in  a  million 
so  tender,  so  kind,  so  generous,  so  brave  as  he.  In  one 
point  of  view,  it  did  seem  to  me  that  the  agony  of  sorrow 
might  extinguish  your  life.  On  second  thought,  it  came  to 
my  mind,  "According  to  thy  day,  so  shall  thy  strength  be. " 
Yes,  our  dear  Mr.  Stephe  's  has  schooled  himself  not  to  rely 
too  much  on  exterior  comforts — not  to  confide  altogether 
in  human  affections  ;  but  he  cherishes  entirely  such  a  strong 
sense  of  divine  love,  that  he  will  exclaim,  at  the  weight  and 
fullness  of  his  grief,  in  most  humble  submission  and  Chris- 
tian cheerfulness,  "Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done!  " 

When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Linton,  I  entertained 
a  very  high  respect  and  esteem  for  him.  As  I  knew  him 
better  and  more  intimately,  I  began  to  love  him;  and  this 
love  grew  stronger  and  stronger  every  day ;  it  was  more 
like  the  affection  of  a  dutiful  son  towards  a  loving  father 
than  anything  else.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  terrible  was  the 
blow  when  it  came  upon  us.  I  cannot  at  all  realize,  now, 
that  I  shall  see  his  face  no  more  in  the  flesh.  Poor  wife 
and  poor  children !  But  Almighty  God  is  good  and  merci- 
ful, and  will  have  them  in  His  hoi}-  keeping,  and  will  be 
more  than  husband,  father,  and  all,  if  they  put  their  trust 
in  Him. 

I  have  taken  up  my  pen  several  times  to  say  a  word  to 
you,  but  hesitated,  and  laid  it  down  again.  To-day,  I  have 
made  the  venture.  My  feeling  was  rather,  if  it  could  have 
been,  to  act  somewhat  like  the  friends  of  Job,  who  "sat 
down  with  him  on  the  ground  seven  days  and  seven  nights, 
and  spake  not  a  word  to  him ;  for  they  saw  that  his  grief 
was  very  great ;"  and  I  thought  I  ought  to  keep  silence, 
and  hesitated  about  expressing  my  deep  sympathy  for  you  ; 
but  you  might  reply,  like  Job  to  his  friends,  "Miserable 
comforters  are  ye  all!"  Still,  I  cannot,  under  the  circum- 
stances, be  entirely  silent.  I  must  at  least  tell  you  what  I 
feel  it  is  my  part  to  do:  I  would  kneel  beside  you,  and  the 
other  dear  ones  Linton  has  left  behind,  in  silent,  earnest 
prayer,  press  you  all  to  my  heart,  sustain  the  drooping 
heads,  take  the  hands  in  loving  pressure  and  sympathy, 
but  speak  not 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

R.  H.  SALTER. 


406  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

I  am  obliged  to  Pope  Barrow,  Esq.,  for  the  following  ex- 
cellent portraiture  of  some  of  the  capital  features  in  Judge 
Stephens'  character : 


Lin  ton  Stephens  was  one  of  the  few — the  very  few — of 
whom  it  may  be  truly  said,  "None  kncis  him  but  to  love 
him."  But  to  the  thousands  to  whom  his  name  and  fame 
were  familiar,  and  to  man}"  of  those — perhaps  a  large  ma- 
jority— who  were  numbered  among  his  personal  acquaint- 
ances, his  real  character  was,  in  many  of  its  best  features, 
completely  unknown,  lie  cared  not  to  reveal  himself — in- 
deed, he  seldom  ever  did,  except  to  those  who  belonged  to 
what  I  might  call  the  inner-circle  of  his  friends.  The  out- 
side world  honored  him,  respected  and  trusted  him  ;  for, 
however  little  they  might  know  of  him,  that  little  was 
enough  always  to  command  confidence;  but  his  intimate 
friends,  whilst  they  also  entertained  these  same  sentiments 
of  admiration  of  his  talents,  and  implicit  faith  in  him  as  a 
man,  felt  for  him  that  affection  which  the  beautiful  story  of 
David  and  Jonathan  has  handed  clown  to  us  as  "passing  the 
love  of  woman."  Those  who  knew  him  best  loved  him 
best.  There  was  no  danger,  in  becoming  better  acquainted 
with  him,  of  having  any  illusions  destroyed  which  are  so 
often  the  creatures  of  first  acquaintance  with  men  of  fas- 
cinating minds.  In  his  case,  every  impression  he  made 
upon  an  acquaintance,  from  first  to  last,  was  genuine  and 
true.  Nothing  was  done  for  effect.  He  was,  at  all  times, 
natural  and  nai'i'c.  As  his  real  character  and  the  generous 
proportions  of  his  mind  unfolded  themselves  more  and  more 
to  his  associates,  it  was  hard  to  decide  which  to  admire 
most,  the  pure  and  unsullied  nature  of  the  man,  or  the 
splendid  intellectual  powers  with  which  he  was  endowed. 

My  acquaintance  with  him  dates  back  to  my  boyhood; 
and  I  remember  quite  well  the  first  impressions  he  made 
upon  me;  they  have  never  been  erased  nor  altered.  They 
were  perfectly  correct  interpretations  of  his  character,  and 
have  been  strengthened  and  confirmed  as  years  passed  on  ; 
and  the  slight  acquaintance,  then  begun,  ripened  into  a 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  407 

warm  friendship,  which  continued,  uninterruptedly,  until 
his  death.  Judge  Stephens  possessed  so  many  sterling 
attributes  of  mind  and  character,  that  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  speak  of  them  all  in  the  brief  limits  of  a  memoir  like 
this,  which  is  not  purposed  to  inform  the  reader  in  regard 
to  his  character  or  his  achievements,  but  to  remind  him  ot 
some  of  his  traits,  and  thereby  serve,  perhaps,  to  call  up, 
in  his  own  mind,  many  another  familiar  recollection  of  this 
great  man.  There  are  thousands  in  Georgia  who,  when 
they  read  these  brief  reminiscences,  will  each  recall  some 
half-forgotten  experience  of  his  own  that  is  linked  to  the 
memory  of  Linton  Stephens,  which,  for  the  time,  perhaps, 
will  carry  his  thoughts  back  with  a  softened  heart,  to  freshen 
and  deepen  his  recollections  of  him,  and  serve  to  keep  his 
memory  green  among  those  whom  he  loved  so  well  in  life. 
I  have  found  that  all  with  whom  I  have  spoken  of  him, 
since  his  death,  who  knew  him  as  well  as  I  did,  had  formed 
the  same  impressions  of  his  character,  had  cherished  the 
same  kind  of  incidental  recollections  of  intercourse  with 
him  in  life — all  of  them  illustrative  of  his  warm,  generous, 
faithful,  and  affectionate  nature — and  have  mourned  his  loss 
in  their  hearts  almost  as  one  dropped  from  the  circle  of  their 
own  hearth-stone.  Few  men  have  ever  lived  who  were  so 
true  to  themselves  as  to  stamp  themselves  thus  upon  thou- 
sands of  different  men  with  the  same  identical  impression. 
The  influence  which  he  exerted  over  his  fellow-men  was 
such  as  any  man  might  well  be  proud  of;  and  he  well  de- 
served it.  It  has  been  said  by  a  very  profound  thinker,  that 
there  are  two  kinds  of  men  who  control  and  wield  power 
over  masses  of  their  fellows:  one  is  of  that  class  to  which 
great  orators  and  poets  belong;  they  persuade  and  reason 
men  into  acquiescence;  they  present  arguments  and  utter 
appeals  to  their  hearers  and  readers,  and  produce,  some- 
times, great  results.  But  it  is  the  great  questions  they  dis- 
cuss, around  which  the  interest  gathers,  and  not  the  man 
himself.  The  other  class  of  men,  according  to  this  same 
philosopher,  who  make  great  leaders,  are  those  who,  with- 
out giving  reasons,  without  striving  in  argument,  and  who, 
not  turning  aside  from  their  line  to  examine  the  movements 
of  others,  are  followed,  and  trusted,  and  appealed  to  in  all 
emergencies.  They  inspire  confidence;  they  commit  no 
blunders;  and,  better  than  that,  they  are  true  to  their  faith, 
whatever  it  may  be,  even  if  it  takes  them  to  the  stake. 


408  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

It  has  frequently  occurred  to  me,  in  reading  this  analysis 
of  great  men,  by  Kmerson — as  he  has  classified  them — that 
Judge  Stephens  united,  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  some  ot 
the  best  attributes  of  both  classes.  He  possessed,  in  a  large 
degree,  the  argumentative  and  persuasive  powers  of  the 
orator;  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  exerted  an  insensible  in- 
fluence independent  of  these,  and  which,  in  one  sense,  was 
more  powerful.  There  was  great  force  in  him ;  no  one 
could  fail  to  realize  it  and  feel  it,  who  came  in  contact  with 
him.  Men  followed  him  and  trusted  him,  not  doubting  or 
fearing,  because  they  knew  he  had  no  doubts  nor  fears  him- 
self. Such  men  are  rare;  they  are  more  valuable  to  their 
generation  than  it  ever  gives  them  credit  for;  they  do  more 
good  than  is  ever  known,  and  prevent  more  harm  ;  their 
presence  in  a  community  or  a  State  is  a  repressive  on  fraud 
and  wrong. 

One  of  the  most  striking  attributes,  to  the  common  eye, 
that  Judge  Stephens  assumed,  was  in  his  profession  as  a 
lawyer,  when  engaged  in  the  crrtaniina  of  the  court-house. 
The  Northern  circuit  was,  during  the  whole  of  his  career, 
renowned  for  the  high  rank  of  its  bar,  as  gentlemen  who 
united,  in  many  instances,  the  highest  accomplishments  of 
legal  learning  to  the  most  powerful  and  effective  oratorical 
powers.  Younger  than  most  of  the  lawyers  with  whom  he 
came  in  actual  contact  in  his  circuit,  he  was  trained,  from 
the  beginning,  to  put  forth  his  best  energies  and  tax  his 
great  powers  to  the  uttermost.  Like  a  young  gladiator  just 
alighted  in  the  arena,  he  had  to  measure  swords  with  vet- 
erans whose  sinews  were  toughened  by  a  hundred  conflicts. 
The  name  he  has  built  for  himself  in  that  circuit  best  attests 
how,  in  all  those  years  of  arduous  practice,  his  demeanor 
as  a  man,  and  his  success  as  a  lawyer,  have  endeared  him 
to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  elevated  him  to  the  highest 
rank  of  the  profession. 

In  his  manner  and  his  methods  of  conducting  an  impor- 
tant case,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  was  no  imitator.  He 
reminded  you  of  nobody  else.  His  success  was  very  great. 
If  he  was  satisfied  that  justice  and  right  were  all  on  his  side, 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  lose  the  case ;  he  was  irresistible 
in  such  cases  ;  he  had  the  large  faculty,  in  addressing  juries, 
of  giving  them  a  clear  insight  into  the  case  in  his  very  open- 
ing sentences.  To  this  one  gift  he  owed  many  a  triumph. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  4CQ 

There  were  things  in  the  practice  of  law,  however,  that 
always  exasperated  him  to  the  last  degree.  One  of  these 
was  a  lying  witness.  If  he  found  out  that  a  witness  was 
falsely  swearing  away  his  client's  rights,  his  eyes,  his  fea- 
tures, and  his  whole  form  would  show  unmistakably  that  he 
was  a  dangerous  man  to  trifle  with.  At  such  times,  no  or- 
dinary man  could  encounter  his  eye  and  utter  a  falsehood 
on  the  stand. 

But  Linton  Stephens  was  made  for  better  times  than  these 
degenerate  days.  He  would  chafe  himself  to  death  at  the 
corruption  which,  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  he  saw,  but 
could  not  prevent.  Bound  to  earth  by  as  many  ties,  both 
of  affection  and  duty,  as  any  one  of  us  who  is  left,  it  is  yet 
better  for  him  as  it  is;  but  as  for  us,  who  knew  him,  and 
loved  him,  and  who  now  mourn  for  him,  when  we  chance 
to  revisit  scenes  that  are  intimately  associated  with  him,  we 
cannot  repress  a  sigh 

"  For  the  toucli  of  a  vanished  hand, 
The  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still." 


Yours,  very  truly, 

POPE  BARROW. 

SUPREME  COURT  OF  GEORGIA, 

SATURDAY,  October  5,  1872. 

The  honorable  court  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — their  Honors  Hiram  Warner  and  H.  K.  McCay 
and  W.  W.  Montgomery,  Judges. 

Upon  motion  of  Hon.  Robert  Toombs,  it  is  ordered  that 
the  following  memorial  and  accompanying  resolutions,  com- 
memorative of  Hon.  Linton  Stephens,  be  spread  upon  the 
minutes. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Geor- 
gia, during  this  term,  to  report  ' '  suitable  resolutions  com- 
memorative of  Judge  Stephens,"  submit  the  following 

REPORT  : 

The  bench  and  bar  of  this  court  are  again  called  upon  to 
hold  a  meeting  of  sorrow,  commemorative  of  another  of 

36 


4IO  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF 

their  most  distinguished,  valued,  and  beloved  professional 
brethren.  The  hand  of  death,  which  has  recently  stricken 
the  name  of  Linton  Stephens  from  the  roll  of  the  living, 
leaves  not  upon  our  record  a  more  perfect  model  of  a  pure, 
able,  learned,  and  upright  magistrate ;  of  a  just,  profound, 
brilliant,  and  successful  lawyer;  of  an  earnest,  self-sacrific- 
ing, devoted  patriot;  of  a  great-hearted,  true  man,  whose 
life  was  spent  in  the  practice  of  virtue,  the  pursuit  and  vin- 
dication of  truth,  and  in  the  service  of  his  fellow-men. 

Linton  Stephens  was  born  in  what  was  then  Wilkcs 
county — no\v  the  county  of  Taliaferro — in  this  State,  on 
the  first  day  of  July,  1823.  His  father,  of  Scotch-Irish  de- 
scent, was  a  gentleman  of  unusual  education  and  intellectual 
attainments,  in  the  day  and  among  the  people  with  whom  his 
lot  was  cast,  and  his  family  ranked  vdth  the  first-class  of 
the  early  settlers  of  our  commonwealth  lie  was  left  an 
orphan  in  childhood,  with  a  slender  patrimony;  but  he  had 
great  advantages  in  his  youth,  of  which  he  availed  himself 
to  an  extent  rare  among  the  youth  of  our  country. 

The  providence  which  deprived  him  of  a  father's  foster- 
ing protection  committed  him  to  the  care  of  one  pre-emi- 
nently qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  father,  brother, 
protector,  and  friend.  Deep,  fervent,  unbounded  fraternal 
affection  molded  that  grand  development  of  his  moral  and 
intellectual  character,  which  won  the  confidence,  the  affec- 
tion, and  admiration  of  all  who  knew  him.  Having  been 
thoroughly  prepared  under  this  training,  he  entered  the 
Freshman  class  of  Franklin  College,  the  University  of  Geor- 
gia, in  1839,  when  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  was  immedi- 
ately recognized  as  the  head  of  a  large  class  of  Georgia's 
chosen  sons — which  position  he  maintained  throughout  his 
collegiate  course — and  graduated  with  the  first  ho  lor  of  his 
Ahna  Mater  without  a  competitor  and  without  a  rival. 
After  leaving  college,  he  was  placed  in  the  office  of  one  of 
your  committee  to  study  law,  and  was  soon  afterwards  sent 
to  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he  graduated  at  the 
head  of  the  law-class  under  Judge  Tucker,  who  foresaw  and 
foretold  his  great  professional  success.  After  graduating 
in  law,  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  he  went  to  Harvard, 
in  Massachusetts,  to  attend  the  lectures  of  Judge  Story,  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  remained 
there  until  Judge  Story's  death,  when  he  came  to  Washing- 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  411 

ton  City  and  spent  a  winter  in  attending  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  and  the  debates  in  Congress.  He  re- 
turned to  Georgia  in  1846,  having  given  three  years  to  pre- 
paration for  his  profession — thoroughly  prepared  to  bear 
the  armor  which  he  put  on — and  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
in  his  native  county,  in  1846. 

He  located  at  Crawfordville,  in  his  native  county,  and 
became  a  leader  of  causes  in  the  court-house  before  he  was 
scarcely  known  out  of  it.  In  1849,  he  was  elected  to  rep- 
resent Taliaferro  county  in  the  Legislature,  and  re-elected 
in  1850  and  1851. 

Thoroughly  versed  in  the  principles  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, his  compatriots  immediately  recognized  his  merit 
and  genius,  and  placed  him  at  the  post  of  labor  and  of 
honor. 

In  1852,  he  married  the  daughter  of  Judge  James  Thom- 
as, of  Sparta,  and  removed  to  Hancock  county;  and  the 
next  year,  the  people  of  Hancock  again  called  him  into  the 
public  service  as  their  representative  in  the  Legislature,  and 
continued  to  re-elect  him  until  1855,  when  he  was  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  in  a  district  opposed  to  his  political  opin- 
ions by  a  large  majority,  to  which  his  power  and  influence 
reduced  to  an  extent  which  made  his  defeat  a  triumph  of 
his  principles.  In  1857,  he  contested  the  same  district  with 
the  same  honorable  result.  In  1859,  Judge  Stephens  was 
appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  was  unan- 
imously confirmed  by  the  Legislature  to  this  honorable  post, 
and,  after  thirteen  months'  service  in  that  position,  resigned 
it  on  account  of  ill-health. 

We  pass  over  his  judicial  record ;  it  will  pass  down  to 
future  ages  in  our  reports.  His  judgments  were  clear,  con- 
cise, exhaustive  expositions  of  the  law  and  facts  of  the  cases 
decided  by  him,  and  contain  no  word  wrhich  his  friends 
would  wish  to  blot. 

In  1860,  he  was  elected  to  the  Secession  convention  of 
the  State  of  Georgia,  and  voted  against  the  resolution.  He 
acknowledged  the  right,  but  opposed  the  policy ;  but  after 
the  resolution  was  passed,  and  that  grand,  historic  act  was 
accomplished,  true  to  his  principles  and  allegiance  to  his 
State,  he  put  his  whole  strength,  and  power,  and  soul  into 
the  cause  of  his  country.  He  immediately  returned  to  his 
home,  raised  a  company  for  the  vindication  of  the  right, 


412  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

and  joined  the  Fifteenth  Regiment  of  Georgia  Volunteers, 
and  was  elected  lieutenant-colonel  of  that  regiment ;  went  to 
Virginia  to  meet  the  foe,  and  continued  in  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  until  1862,  when  his  health  compelled 
him  to  retire  from  military  service.  Upon  his  return  home, 
he  was  again  called  into  public  service  by  the  people  of  his 
county,  who  again  elected  him  to  the  Legislature  in  1862, 
and  continued  him  in  that  capacity  until  the  end  of  the  war; 
but  when  his  State  was  invaded  in  1863,  he  raised  a  bat- 
talion of  cavalry  and  again  entered  into  military  service  for 
the  defense  of  his  native  land,  and  served  until  the  spring 
of  1864.  When  the  invader  was  devastating  our  land,  he 
again  put  on  his  sword,  and  stood  in  the  front  until  com- 
pelled to  retire,  from  ill-health,  to  the  duties  of  a  legislator. 

Having  lost  his  first  wife  before  the  war,  in  1867  Judge 
Stephens  married  Miss  Mary  W.  Salter,  of  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

From  the  surrender  of  our  armies,  in  1865,  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  on  the  I4th  of  July,  1872,  Judge  Stephens  was 
actively  engaged  in  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice  of 
his  profession  ;  and  his  last  grand  and  successful  effort  was 
made  in  the  vindication  of  public  justice,  and  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  the  rights  of  the  people. 

His  mind  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  profession  which 
he  had  selected,  elevated  and  adorned,  clear,  vigorous,  an- 
alytical, and  comprehensive ;  it  seized  truth,  facts,  and  law 
with  an  iron  grasp,  and  stripped  sophistry  and  error  naked 
to  the  mortal  gaze  of  all  beholders;  while  his  stern  integ- 
rity and  devotion  to  truth  gave  irresistible  power  to  his  lofty 
intellect. 

Judge  Stephens  was  a  husband — a  father;  and  here  his 
genial,  kind,  and  affectionate  nature  shone  with  peculiar 
brilliancy,  shedding  happiness  and  joy  over  a  household  in 
which  he  was  peculiarly  blessed.  But  we  forbear  to  enter 
those  sacred  precincts  in  which  there  is  no  human  conso- 
lation. 

The  committee  offer  the  following  resolutions: 

AV^/rvY/,  i.  That,  in  the  death  of  Linton  Stephens,  the 
bench  and  bar  of  Georgia  have  lost  an  eminent  jurist,  and 
the  country  one  of  the  best,  ablest,  and  truest  sons,  whose 
memory  we  should  perpetuate  for  the  benefit  of  future  gen- 
erations. 


JUDGE    LINTON   STEPHENS.  413 

Resolved,  2.  That  we  respectfully  tender  to  his  bereaved 
widow  and  children  the  heart-felt  sympathy  of  the  bench 
and  bar,  and  the  officers  of  this  court,  whose  warm  friend- 
ship and  affection  he  so  well  deserved  and  so  fully  possessed. 
Resolved,  3.  That,  in  token  of  this,  we  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  during  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  4.  That  a  copy  of  this  report  and  resolutions  be 
transmitted  to  Mrs.  Stephens,  for  the  family,  and  that  this 
court  be  requested  to  have  them  entered  on  its  minutes, 
and  that  the  gazettes  of  the  State  be  requested  to  publish 
them. 

ROBERT  TOOMBS, 
CHARLES  J.  JENKINS, 
R.  F.  LVON, 
IVERSON  L.  HARRIS, 
HENRY  I..  BENNING. 

[  From  the  Atlanta  Constitution.  ] 

JUDGE  LINTON  STEPHENS. 

Quis  desiderio  sit  pudor  aut  modus 
Tain  cari  capitis  ? 

"  What  shame  or  limit  can  there  be 
In  yearning  for  so  loved  a  form  ?  " 

In  our  private  grief  for  our  friend,  it  is  difficult  to  realize 
the  extent  of  the  public  loss  which  has  befallen  Georgia  in 
the  death  of  this  her  distinguished  and  trusted  son.  Nor 
can  its  proportions  be  fully  appreciated  until  AVC  get  further 
from  it.  As  one  who  feels  it  deeply,  in  both  its  public  and 
private  aspects,  I  am  constrained,  in  advance  of  this  full 
realization,  to  pay  the  partial  tribute  called  for  at  once  by 
affection  and  admiration.  If  the  portraiture  be  at  all  life- 
like, it  will  receive  many  a  response  from  saddened  hearts 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  State. 

Three  great  qualities  fitted  him  for  eminent  public  use- 
fulness :  great  capacity,  great  honesty,  and  great  fidelity. 
These  properties  inspired  their  proper  counterpart,  and  gave 
him  (what  was  no  less  necessary  to  usefulness)  the  entire, 
deserved,  and  familiar  confidence  of  the  people  of  his  na- 
tive State. 

His  capacity  was  great,  not  only  of  tlwugJit,  extending 
over  a  very  wide  range,  but  also  of  expression,  and  that  not 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

limited  to  thinkers  only,  like  himself,  but  embracing  the 
common  mind  as  well. 

He  did  not  live  and  reason  apart  from  other  men,  but  was 
one  of  their  number,  in  accord  with  their  modes  and  habits, 
understood  them,  and  conveyed  his  own  thoughts  to  them 
in  strong,  vigorous  Anglo-Saxon,  like  Bullion,  with  a  plain 
stamp. 

His  honesty  was  not  less  great  and  varied  than  his  intel- 
lectual endowments.  It  pervaded  his  public  and  private 
life — his  heart,  head,  and  tongue.  He  was  an  honest  seeker 
after  truth.  Falsehood,  in  all  its  forms,  he  detested  and 
despised.  He  loved  the  truth  in  his  heart.  His  intellectual 
appetite  craved  truth  as  its  proper  nutriment,  and  his  tongue 
was  equally  candid  and  sincere.  His  manners  exactly  ex- 
pressed him.  He  was,  in  fact,  just  what  he  seemed  to  be. 

Such  qualities  justly  commanded  the  public  confidence, 
resting  on  a  strong  foundation  of  tried  merit.  That  slow 
growth  had  become,  after  long  and  varied  tests,  deeply 
rooted  and  vigorous  in  the  public  mind,  and  it  met  no 
checks  or  drawbacks  on  his  part;  for  lie  was  honest  with 
himself,  and  his  gold  had  been  first  tried  in  the  fire,  for  his 
own  use,  before  it  was  offered  for  currency  among  others. 

And  so  he  was  a  bulwark  of  public  virtue.  Dishonesty 
shrank  from  his  presence  ;  tolerant  in  all  else,  for  this  he 
had  little  tolerance.  Honesty  rested  fearlessly  upon  his 
strong  championship,  and  felt  safe  in  his  hands. 

A  powerful  intellect,  of  extraordinary  breadth  and  scope, 
yet  as  acute  as  it  was  comprehensive — capable  of  vigorous 
action  upon  subtle  and  delicate  points — a  grasp  of  a  subject 
perfectly  vise-like — a  nervous,  direct  energy  of  expression, 
which  cut  through  all  vapors — were  at  his  command.  These 
faculties  equally  fitted  him  for  the  investigation  of  law  or 
of  fact.  A  clear,  general  view  of  the  entire  subject,  in  all 
its  relations,  and  in  its  just  proportions,  enabled  him  to  sys- 
tematize his  thoughts  and  adjust  himself  to  a  case  with  won- 
derful rapidity.  He  never  rested  in  investigation  until  he 
touched  bottom,  and,  from  the  rock,  once  found,  he  could 
hardly  be  dislodged  by  any  form  of  sophistry.  If  he  had 
any  difficult}',  it  was  in  his  hearers — in  their  want  of  dis- 
crimination to  perceive  real,  not  fanciful,  distinctions.  But 
this  very  infirmity  was  incorporated  in  his  scheme  of  pre- 
senting his  case,  so  that  he  could  show  nice  points  even  to 
dull  eyes. 


JUDGE    L1NTON    STEPHENS.  415 

But  it  was,  after  all,  the  honest  heart  behind  all  this — of 
which  the  intellect  and  will  were  the  mere  executive  officers 
and  agents — which  secured  the  public  confidence  that,  with 
all  these  faculties,  he  would  do  good,  and  not  harm  ;  that 
he  was  not  easily  deceived  himself,  and  would  not  willingly 
deceive  others.  Of  his  powers  in  that  direction,  we  cannot 
speak ;  for  they  were  not  put  to  the  test. 

The  warmth  and  sincerity  of  his  personal  friendships  ex- 
plain something  of  the  grief,  as  well  as  sense,  of  public  loss 
which  his  death  has  occasioned.  His  public  and  private 
character  were  all  of  a  piece ;  only,  in  his  private  intercourse, 
there  was  incomparably  more  of  tenderness  and  marked 
kindness  than  the  severely  logical  character  of  his  intellect 
would  have  led  those  to  suppose  who  only  knew  him  in  argu- 
ment. Not  comparatively  alone,  but  positively,  he  was 
considerate  and  kind  in  an  eminent  degree,  in  his  intercourse 
with  others,  and  never  gave  willful  or  intentional  offense  to 
any  honest  man,  to  any  dull  man,  to  the  weak  or  to  the 
helpless. 

All  these  traits  were  big,  plain,  and  distinct — no  mistake 
about  them,  nor  about  the  man ;  and  the  people  knew  that 
they  understood  him.  He  had  been  tested  until  they  were 
satisfied;  he  had  been  seen  weighed  in  the  balance  again 
and  again,  under  very  varying  conditions,  and  not  found 
wanting.  We  do  not  mean  that  he  was  without  faults,  for 
he  was  a  man  ;  but  they  were  not  secret  or  disguised.  He 
wore  no  mask,  and  his  faults  were  better  known  than  their 
palliations  and  his  struggles  against  them.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
they  were  not  those  of  a  selfish  nature.  Let  none  judge  of 
them  harshly — only  sorrowfully — for  they  injured  himself 
more  than  others,  and  deceived  no  one. 

His  death  occurred  in  his  full  intellectual  prime.  His  sun 
went  down  at  the  high  noon  of  his  faculties.  These  were 
very  remarkable,  and  very  reliable.  He  was  grown  in  a 
great  school,  accustomed  to  emergencies,  full  of  resources, 
and  ready  with  them — a  trained  intellectual  athlete,  belong- 
ing to  himself.  His  self-reliance  was  great  and  well-founded, 
and  inspired  the  full  confidence  of  his  hearers.  Few  men 
had  so  thorough  possession  of  their  own  faculties. 

As  a  judge,  his  decisions  were  founded  on  principle — 
not  authority.  He  made  authority — he  was  authority — for 
he  found  a  solid  basis  ever  before  he  began  to  build.  His 


4l6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH   OF 

decisions  needed  little  bolstering ;  they  could  stand  alone. 

But  he  exemplified  a  most  rare  combination  of  gifts — be- 
ing great,  not  only  as  a  judge,  but  as  an  advocate,  before 
court  or  jury,  or  on  the  hustings,  in  cases  civil  or  criminal, 
upon  questions  of  law  or  fact,  in  the  preparation  or  at  the 
trial,  or  in  the  examination  of  witnesses. 

Indeed,  a  measured  estimate  of  his  faculties  would  be 
regarded  extravagant.  Such  power  did  a  high  intellect  ac- 
quire, under  the  guidance  of  honesty.  He  grappled  with 
great  problems  with  a  singular  mixture  of  abstract  and  prac- 
tical power,  and  subtlety  and  common  sense,  in  his  percep- 
tions of  truth;  and,  strange  to  say,  where  he  went  himself 
into  the  very  heart  of  these  problems,  he  was  usually  able 
to  carry  others  along  with  him. 

This  brief  notice  would  be  incomplete,  if  I  failed  to  say 
he  was  a  firm  believer  in  Christianity.  I  remember  the 
marked  emphasis  with  which  he  once  expressed  this  con- 
viction, with  that  characteristic  clearness  and  boldness  which 
admitted  of  no  misconception,  in  the  words,  "1  believe 
Christ  is  God. "  His  further  remark  was,  substantially,  that, 
with  this  great  intervention  of  Deity,  all  lesser  and  ancillary 
miracles,  introducing  the  Christian  system  to  mankind,  fol- 
lowed on  proper  evidence,  as  matters  of  course.  As  his 
manner  was,  the  great,  huge  fact  stood  out  first,  unmistak- 
able, and  its  qualifications  and  modes  were  supcradded  af- 
terwards. 

The  public  loss  is  indeed  great — the  gap  left,  wide  and 
yawning.  Such  capacities,  so  handled,  lost  at  any  time,  to 
any  State,  would  be  a  calamity.  By  Georgia,  and  just  now, 
it  is  peculiarly  felt;  and  yet,  to  say  farewell  to  the  man  is 
harder  than  to  say  it  to  the  statesman,  the  jurist,  the  pub- 
lic servant.  That  respect  for  his  character  which  delighted 
to  do  him  public  honor,  and  to  speak  his  praise  as  the  peer 
of  the  first  statesmen  of  the  country,  is  lost  in  that  deeper 
feeling  of  affection  which  found  familiar  expression  in  sim- 
ply calling  him  "  Linton  " — a  name  which,  in  the  wide  limits 
of  Georgia,  and  in  many  a  circle  beyond,  is  full  of  mean- 
ing, and  needs  no  appendages  and  no  tribute.  "  Linton  !  " 
It  calls  up  the  whole,  at  once,  of  that  noble  nature  in  which 
was  garnered  so  much  of  public  and  private  worth,  of  in- 
tellectual treasure  and  training,  of  friendship,  honesty,  and 
truth. 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  41 7 

If  such  the  loss  to  the  public  and  his  friends,  what  is  it 
to  the  nearer  circle?  We  cannot  intrude  here.  We  can 
bub  commend  them,  in  this  hour,  to  a  consolation  and  sym- 
pathy above  what  humanity  can  give.  There  is  an  awful 
Power  to  which  all  must  bow.  This  Power,  alone,  has  the 
balm  to  heal  the  wounds  which  it  has  made,  and  bind  up 
the  hearts  it  has  broken. 

Mercifully^  each  day  draws  us  closer  to  the  future — leaves 
a  veil  betwixt  us  and  the  past.  The  earth  of  our  State  now 
teems  with  the  loved  and  lost,  who  went  to  her  bosom  be- 
fore the  lapse  of  three  score  years  and  ten.  Another  name, 
worthy  of  Westminster  Abbey,  is  added  to  the  honored 


dead  of  Georgia. 


SAMUEL  BARNETT. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  STATE  CONVENTION. 

DEATH  OF  JUDGE  STEPHENS. 

Hon.  George  F.  Pierce,  of  Hancock,  introduced  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions: 

1.  Resolved  by  the  Democratic  party  of  Georgia  in  conven- 
tion assembled,    That,  in  the  recent  death  of  Hon.    Linton 
Stephens,  an  elected  delegate  to  this  convention,  the  cause 
of  constitutional  liberty  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  and  noblest 
defenders. 

2.  Resolved,   That  Georgia  has  lost  a  son  whose  intellect, 
cultivation,  fidelity,    integrity,    pure  private  character,  and 
devotion  to  principle,  illustrated  on  the  bench,  at  the  bar, 
in  the  forum,  in  legislative  halls,  and  in  social  life,  reflected 
honor  upon  his  native  State;  and,  at  this  time,  when  his 
noble  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  are  peculiarly  needed,  she 
mourns  his  death  as  a  mother  a  beloved  son  on  whom  she 
could  depend  under  the  sternest  trials  and  in  the  darkest 
hours. 

3.  Resolved,   That  his  well-earned  fame  is  the  heritage  of 
all  true  Georgians,  and  it  shall  be  our  pleasure  to  cherish 
and  emulate  it. 

4.  Resolved,   That  we  tender  to  his  distinguished  brother, 
the  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens,  our  heart-felt  sympathy;  and, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH    OF 

commending  his  wife  and  children  to  the  tender  care  of  the 
God  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,  we  beg  to  assure  them 
that,  in  every  Georgian,  they  have  a  friend  who  will  deem 
it  a  privilege  to  serve  them. 

After  submitting  the  resolutions,  Mr.  Pierce  said: 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION — For 
myself  and  associate  delegates  from  the  county^of  Hancock, 
and  for  the  stricken  and  bereaved  county  which  we  have 
the  honor  to  represent  in  this  convention,  I  move  the  adop- 
tion of  the  resolutions  which  have  just  been  read.  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be  eminently  proper  that  the  Democratic  party 
of  Georgia  should  deplore  the  untimely  death  of  the  distin- 
guished gentleman  to  whom  the  resolutions  relate ;  for,  in 
all  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  none  could  be  found 
more  steadfastly  attached  to  its  principles,  and  none  more 
valiant  always  to  battle  for  their  defense.  I  think  it  ex- 
tremely becoming  that  Georgia  should  mourn  the  loss  of 
her  illustrious  son  ;  for,  among  all  her  children — those  who 
yet  live  to  do  her  honor,  and  those  whose  dust  is  now  min- 
gling with  his  in  her  honored  soil — there  was  none  whose 
heart  pulsated  to  the  common  mother  with  stronger  and 
more  earnest  love.  It  is  well  that  the  voice  of  angry  con- 
tention should  be  hushed  to  silence  to-day,  and  that  all  the 
lovers  of  constitutional  liberty,  who  are  assembled  here, 
should  join  in  common  love  to  do  him  honor;  for,  since  the 
days  when  Hampden  and  Sydney  died,  none  have  lived 
who  loved  liberty  more  dearly  than  did  he. ' 

I  do  not  propose  to-day,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  undertake  to 
pronounce  any  eulogium  upon  the  illustrious  dead.  Let 
this  be  done — not  by  those  who  loved  him  more,  for  there 
were  none,  but  by  those  abler  to  do  it  well ;  for,  sir,  only 
a  master's  hand  should  strike  the  chords  which  make  the 
music  to  sing  his  praise.  It  ;s  my  purpose,  in  the  name  of 
my  county,  simply  to  submit  the  resolutions  which  have 
been  read,  and  to  commit  to  Georgia's  keeping  the  price- 
less memories  of  his  public  life. 

\Yhen  this  duty  shall  have  been  discharged,  Hancock's 
delegation  will  return  to  their  people  and  his — to  those  who 
knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most — and,  joined  together, 
we  shall  keep,  in  hallowed  remembrance,  his  local  service 
and  his  private  worth. 


JUDGE   LINTON    STEPHENS.  419 

And,  standing  here  to-day,  sir,  in  the  midst  of  Georgia's 
distinguished  living,  and  in  presence  of  her  honored  dead, 
remembering  all  the  glories  which  cluster  along  the  line  of 
her  history,  it  is  my  privilege,  for  my  county,  to  say  that 
we  proudly  feel  that  if  we  have  contributed  nothing  more 
to  the  greatness  of  our  mother-State,  the  gift  of  the  distin- 
guished ability  and  distinguished  virtue  of  Linton  Stephens 
makes  as  bright  a  jewel  as  sparkles  in  the  gathered  treas- 
ures of  her  glorious  past ! 

Mr.  Pierce  was  followed  by  Hon.  Julian  Hartridge,  who 
said : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION — I 
beg  leave  to  second  the  gentleman's  motion.  While  I  rec- 
ognize the  ability  of  the  gentleman  to  do  justice  to  his  hon- 
ored and  illustrious  colleague — now,  alas!  numbered  with 
the  dead — I  ask  the  privilege  to  render  my  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  noble  deceased.  True,  he  was  the  honored 
citizen  of  a  single  county,  yet  he  belonged  to  the  whole 
State,  which,  aside  from  the  ties  of  family  and  relations,  he 
loved  better  than  all  the  world — better  than  the  emolu- 
ments of  wealth,  honors,  distinction,  and  power  combined. 
Wherever  the  State's  interest,  principles,  honor,  and  integ- 
rity were  concerned,  there  his  heart  beat,  and  beat  warmly. 

I  beg  the  privilege  of  seconding  the  motion  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  Hancock,  the  home  of  the  distinguished  dead. 
Though  he  lived  in  a  community  remote  from  my  portion 
of  the  State,  yet,  in  spirit,  he  was  ever  near,  and  our  hearts 
ever  beat  in  true  accord  in  the  desire  to  improve,  uphold, 
and  maintain  the  honor  and  integrity  of  our  common  State, 
and  promote  the  welfare  of  the  noble  old  commonwealth 
that  gave  us  birth  ;  and,  therefore,  we  feel  that  he  belonged 
to  us  as  well  as  to  others ;  for,  as  it  is  in  a  private  family, 
when  a  loved  child  dies,  a  chord  is  touched,  a  sympathy  is 
excited,  and  a  tear  is  to  be  shed  over  the  last  and  lamented 
remains,  so  it  is  when  a  man,  distinguished  by  virtue,  intel- 
lect, and  devotion  to  State — a  champion  of  her  honor  and 
liberties — is  cut  off  by  an  all-wise  Providence,  then  every 
citizen  feels  as  if  one  of  his  family  has  died. 

Therefore,  I  lay  the  hilmble  tribute  to  the  memory  of  an 
honored  and  beloved  fellow-citizen,  and  to  the  dead  brother 


42O  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

of  one  whose  hearth-stone  is  draped  in  sorrow  and  desola- 
tion ;  and,  though  one  brother  is  mouldering  in  the  grave — 
sacred  sepulchre  of  a  departed  patriot — there  is  another 
still  left,  who  has,  is  now,  and  will  ever  be  dear  to  Georgia, 
whose  heart,  clothed  in  sackcloth,  is  bowed  in  humility  to 
his  God,  and  whose  head,  venerable  with  wisdom  and  age, 
is  covered  with  ashes. 

Hon.  Warren  Akin  said: 

MR.  CHAIRMAN — I  beg  to  bring  some  tribute  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  noble  and  distinguished  dead.  The  gentleman 
from  Hancock,  when  he  spoke  of  his  stricken  and  bereaved 
community,  would  have  been  more  correct  to  state  that 
Georgia  had  been  stricken  and  bereaved. 

I  have  known  the  deceased  long  and  well.  I  have  seen 
him  at  the  bar  of  justice,  in  the  forum,  in  the  assembly,  on 
the  bench — everywhere,  and  I  have  ever  found  him  a  man 
of  truth,  honor,  and  principle,  and  of  all  the  ennobling  vir- 
tues becoming  a  man  and  a  patriot — always  reliable,  honest, 
and  avowed  in  everything  that  pertained  to  his  associations 
with  his  fellow-man,  and  his  doctrines  regarding  National 
or  State  policy. 

If  opposed,  he  was  ever  honorable  and  liberal.  He  loved 
the  truth,  and  despised  all  that  was  low  and  mean.  Ever 
ready  to  co-operate  with  the  good  and  patriotic,  he  made 
no  compromise  with  the  wicked.  He  was  a  hero  among 
the  fearless,  and  a  terror  to  the  dishonest  and  the  evil-doer. 

I  hope  the  resolutions  of  the  gentleman  from  Hancock 
will  be  adopted  by  a  rising  vote.  Linton  Stephens — -that 
loved  name — he  sleeps  the  sleep  of  death  !  yet,  while  Geor- 
gia'has  patriots,  though  she  should  lie  groveling  in  the  dust 
under  a  conqueror's  heel,  subdued  to  despair  with  the  mel- 
ancholy music  of  the  victor's  clanking  chains,  or  should  she 
mount  higher  and  assert  triumphantly  her  liberties  and  her 
honor;  while  there  are  women  who  love  free  government — 
and,  thank  God!  they  do  love  it  with  the  warmest  pulsa- 
tions of  their  patriotic  hearts — there  will  be  a  hallowed  re- 
membrance of  Linton  Stephens,  the  champion  of  his  State's 
and  country's  honor,  and  the  valiant  defender  of  his  beloved 
people. 

Hon.  Albert  R.  Lamar  said: 


JUDGE    LINTON    STEPHENS.  421 

MR.  PRESIDENT — I  trust  I  shall  not  weary  the  patience  of 
this  convention  if  I  ask  a  moment  in  which  to  lay  an  offer- 
ing upon  the  grave  of  my  friend — a  friend  whose  devotion 
and  fidelity  outlived  political  vicissitudes,  and  yielded  only 
to  a  common  conqueror.  It  is  meet  that  Georgia  should 
pay  funeral  rites  to  one  of  her  noblest  sons. 

It  is  proper  that  we,  his  friends  and  companions,  should 
send  words  of  condolence  and  sympathy  to  his  stricken 
household;  and  I  may  safely  say  that  there  is  not  a  heart 
in  this  assembly  that  does  not  cherish  a  tender  feeling  for 
him  whose  hearth-stone  has  been  made  dark  and  desolate 
by  this  terrible  affliction. 

The  time  and  the  occasion  will  not  permit  me  to  pass  an 
eulogium  upon  the  character  and  services  of  Linton  Ste- 
phens ;  but  the  future  historian  may  find,  in  his  name  and 
fame,  much  with  which  to  adorn  and  ennoble  the  annals  of 
these  troublous  times. 

He  was  a  Spartan  in  all  the  sterner  virtues  of  manhood — 
a  Bayard  in  courage,  integrity,  and  accomplishments.  We, 
who  have  seen  him  face  fearful  odds  in  vindication  and  de- 
fense of  the  rights  of  his  people,  have  had  cause  to  say: 

"How  high  a  pitch  his  resolution  soars!  " 

I  can  recall  a  recent  incident  which  illustrates  the  salient 
point  in  his  character:  At  the  late  convention  which  pre- 
ceded this,  he  stood  almost  unaided  and  alone  in  a  contest, 
upon  the  other  side  of  which  were  arrayed  many  of  the 
most  cherished  friends  of  his  life. 

There  are  gentlemen  here  who  can  bear  testimony  as  to 
how  he  bore  himself  in  that  contest. 

You  and  I,  Mr.  President,  will  remember  how  a  gentle- 
man, returning  from  the  room  of  the  Committee  on  Busi- 
ness, with  voice  and  face  aglow  with  admiration,  remarked 
to  me,  "Is  not  Linton  Stephens  a  man  of  iron  soul!  " 

He  was,  indeed,  sir;  and  if  mortals  are  permitted  to  take 
into  another  world  the  temperaments  of  this,  we  may  feel 
assured  that  our  departed  friend  is  steering  his  barque  on 
eternity's  ocean,  with  a  sublime  and  unfaltering  faith  that 
he  will  reach  a  haven  of  rest  in  the  sunlight  of  Mercy  and 
Love  on  the  other  shore. 

Mr.  President,  the  mute  faces*  that  look  down  upon  us 

*  The  walls  of  the  Representative  hall,  at  Atlanta,  are  adorned  with 
large,  life-size  portraits  of  James  Jackson,  Andrew  Jackson,  Franklin, 
Crawford,  Troup,  Clarke,  Ilowell  Cobb,  Jefferson,  and  others. 


422  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 

from  these  walls  to-day  are  fitting  reminders  that  broad 
acres,  crowded  marts,  beautiful  temples,  and  hoarded  mill- 
ions are  the  least  of  the  great  elements  which  constitute  a 
State.  They  tell  us  that  brave  and  virtuous  men  are  the 
greatest  glories  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  in  the  heroic 
mold  in  which  these  men  were  cast  was  cast  Linton  Ste- 
phens, body  and  soul. 

But  one  moon  has  waxed  since  he  sat  here  in  the  prime 
and  plenitude  of  vigorous  health  and  intellectual  prowess. 
In  the  night  that  shall  follow  this  day,  that  same  moon  will 
shed  her  waning  sheen  upon  the  spot  Where  he  sleeps  in 
the  embrace  of  his  honored  mother! 

In  time,  we,  too,  sir,  shall  cease  our  strifes,  and  our  pride, 
our  ambition,  and  our  hopes  will  follow  us  to  the  grave! 
In  view,  then,  of  this  sudden  and  startling  blow,  which  has 
fallen  in  our  midst,  may  we  not,  with  bowed  heads  and 
burdened  hearts,  exclaim : 

"What  shadows  we  are,  and  what  shadows  we  pursue!  " 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS.  423 


JUDGE   LINTON   STEPHENS. 


Obiit  1 41)1  July,  1872. 


[The  following  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon.  Linton 
Stephens  is  from  the  pen  of  a  niece  of  Henry  W.  Longfel- 
low, the  American  poet,  who  has  attained  so  much  distinc- 
tion in  the  Eastern  as  well  as  the  Western  continent.  We 
feel  that  our  readers  will,  as  we  do,  highly  appreciate  this 
tribute,  not  only  from  the  tone  of  its  touching  sympathy, 
but  from  the  source  from  which  it  comes. — EDITORS  SUN.] 

Another  noble  name  is  added 

To  the  list  of  shrined  dead  ; 
Another  strong,  grand  form  departed 

To  his  lowly,  narrow  bed  ! 

Another  guiding  hand  is  taken — 

One  more  heart  is  calm  and  still ; 
O  my  God  !   'tis  now  in  anguish — 

Bow  me  to  Thy  higher  will ! 

Gone,  in  all  his  prime  and  vigor, 

Passed  from  out  the  field  of  life ; 
But  he  bore  himself  as  conqueror, 

Nobly  in  that  weary  strife  ! 

To  Thy  feet,  O  Holy  Jesus, 

Now  we  bring  this  crushing  load  ; 
Only  by  Thy  help  and  guidance 

Can  we  tread  this  thorny  road. 

In  Thy  hands,  we  then,  confiding, 

Leave  the  one  to  us  so  dear — 
Leave  until  a  spirit  risen 

In  Thy  glory  shall  appear! 
Boston,  August  n,  1872.  MARIAN  ADEI.E  LONGKEI.I.OW. 


424  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF 


(From  the  Atlanta  Sun.) 

LINTON   STEPHENS. 


KY  A.   R.  WATSON. 


I. 

Oh,  Eagle  of  our  gentle  Georgia  clime, 

Kyrieil  so  near  the  sky  ! 
Whose  sturdy  wings  beat  strong  against  our  time- 

Of  never-flinching  eye  ! 

II. 
Of  sternest  pulse,  .and  eager,  bounding  flight, 

Touching  the  sun-tipped  brow 
That  domes  the  top  of  fame's  imperial  height", 

Where  eyrie  such  as  thou  ! 

III. 
Oh,  Eagle  !  stricken  from  our  Georgia  skies, 

And  stretched  upon  the  plain, 
With  the  full  blaze  of  morning  in  thine  eyes, 

Ours  is  the  awful  pain  ! 

IV. 

Oh,  Archer!   that,  amid  the  quivering  strife, 

Winged  swift  thy  truest  darts, 
And,  through  the  core  of  his  majestic  life, 

Smit  deep  into  our  hearts! 

V. 
Oh,  conqueror — Death  !  thrice  victor,  pass  along, 

Trophied  above  the  past ! 
Our  pulse  of  greatness,  erewhile  brave  and  stron» 

Is  at  its  ebb  at  last ! 

VI. 

A  little  room  is  all  that's  needed  now — 

Oh,  mother  earth,  be  kind! 
Methinks  your  breast  should  feel  a  newer  glow 

With  dust  like  his  enshrined. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


Addison,  Appreciation   of 115 

Akin,  Warren,  Remarks  of,  occasioned  by  death    of  Stephens     .    .    .  420 

Alfriend,  Alfred,  Letter  of  advice  to 275 

Alfriend,  Dr.    E.    W 53,  184,  384 

American  party,  Organization  and  early  dissolution  of 116 

Ancients  contrasted   with   the  moderns 36 

Anthony,   Rev.   Samuel 205 

Aristocracy,  True  vs.  false 19 

Barnett,  Samuel,  Letters  to 295,   354 

Tribute  to  memory  of  Stephens 413 

Barrow,  Pope,  Reminiscences  of  Stephens 406 

Benning,  Henry  L.,  Criticism  on  history,  (Note) 72 

One  of  Supreme  Court  committee  to  report  resolutions  on  death 

of   Stephens 413 

Bird,  J.  L 10,  39,     43 

Law-partner  of  Stephens 92 

Bleckley,  Logan  E.,  Estimate  of  Stephens  as  a  judge 165 

Brown,    A.   S.,    Personal    collision  with,    subsequent  correspondence 

and  reconciliation  with 328,   329 

Brown,   Joseph   E.,    Nominated   for  Governor 127 

Stephens'   estimate    of,    Ib 271,  275,    287 

Bryan,  Mrs.  Mary  E 206 

Bullard,  Ward,  Second  teacher  of  Stephens 7 

Bulwer,  Estimate    of 18,  25,  387 

Burch,  R.  S 53 

Calhoun,  J.   C.,   Appreciation  of 281 

Unfortunate  nomenclature  in  calling  the  "State's  veto"  "Nul- 
lification " 349 

Cass,  Lewis 51 

Clay,    Henry,    Account    of    speech     before     American     Colonization 

Society 85 

Anecdote  of,  by  Crittenden 87 


426  ANALYTICAL    INDEX. 

Clark,   R.   H.,   Recollections  of   Stephens'  speech,   at  Milledgeville, 

against  removing  the  capitol,  and   its  effect 393 

Clinch,   General   I).    L.,  Opinion   of  prudence  and    wholesomeness  of 

observing  forms  of  etiquette 65 

Anecdote  told  by 69 

Joke  on 86 

Cobb,  Howell,  Trick  on  the  Washington   hackman 49,  62 

Opinion  of  Linton's  talents 92 

Elected  Governor  of  Georgia    .    .    106,  128,  221,  259,  260,  264,  265 

Cobb,  T.  R.  R.,  Mention  of  by   Rev.  Dr.  Curry 12 

Rapid  rise  in  profession  of  the  law 91,  144 

College   Honors,    Estimate   put   upon 47 

Common-place   book,    Importance  of    keeping 24 

Confederate  debt,  Opposition  to  indorsement  of 269 

Council,  Cosby 175,   181,    187,    197,   198,  230,  263,  268 

Conscription  Act,  Opposition  to  the   principle 245 

Constitution,  Account  of  formation  of,  and   of  its  leading  supporters 

and  opponents 27 

Crawford,  M.  J.,  Letters  to  on  chairmanship  of  State  Democratic  Ex- 
ecutive Committee     316,  323 

Crittenden,  J.  J.,  Anecdote  of  Clay 87,  207 

Experience  as  soldier  in  war  of  1812 244 

Deafness,    Advantages    of 76 

Diplomatic  Dinner  at   Washington,  Description  of 53 

Douglas,  S.  A.,  Course  on  Kansas  Constitution  reviewed 129 

Position  on  Central-American  question 136,  220,   235 

DuBose,  C.  W 223,  227,  232,  384 

Eloquence,    Difference   between   spoken   and   svritten 62 

Ewing,   Thomas,   Puns  of 71 

Excess,  The  vice  of  government 350 

Fielder,   Herbert,   Letter  to 326 

Letter  to,  on  the  true  theory  of  government  and  the  necessity 

of  checks  against  excess 349 

Impressions  of  Stephens 396 

Foster,  Dr.  Thomas,  Early  advocate  of  construction  of  Western   and 

Atlantic   Railroad,  (Note) 299 

Opinion    of   C;vsar 299 

Fouche,  Simpson,  Prepares  Linton  for  college  :    Reminiscences  of  the 

boy 8 

Founders  of  the  Government,  Character  and  principles  of 26 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX.  427 

Gartrell,  L.  J 10 

General  Assembly  of  1849,  Distinguished  persons  composing  it     .    .  93 

Gibbon,   Estimate   of 47 

Government  and  Society,  Their  nature  and  analysis  of 281 

Grammar,  Instances  of  popular  errors  of,  in  speaking  and  writing  .    .  29 

Grier,    Aaron 5 

Grier,  Margaret,    Her  character % 3 

Grier,  Robert,  (Note) 3 

Grier,   Robert  C.,    (Note) 3 

Habeas  Corpus,  Resolutions  on  suspension  of  writ,  introduced   in  the 

General  Assembly 269 

Hambleton,  J.  P 235 

Hamilton,  A.,  Character  and  opinions 28 

The  Federalist 81 

Harris,,  Iverson  L.,  Letter  to,  on  miracles 210 

Letter  to,  on  dissenting  opinion  in  Supreme  Court 308 

One  of  Supreme  Court  committee  on  death  of  Stephens    .    .    .  413 

Harry,  Body-servant  of  A.  H.  Stephens 95,  96 

Hartridge,   Julian,    Remarks    in   convention    commemorative    of  Ste- 
phens      419 

Hayes,    Cornelia 5 

Henderson,  R.  J.,    Fitness  for   brigadier-generalship    in    Confederate 

army 260 

Henry,  Patrick,  Opposed  adoption  of  the  Constitution 27 

Hill,  B.  H.,  Advocates  coalition   between   Bell  and    Douglas    men,  in 

1860,    to   defeat    Lincoln 227,  236 

Hill,  Joshua,  Defeats  Stephens   for  Congress  in    1857  .    .    .  127,   136,  139 

Mine,  Mrs.   James,   Letter  of  condolence 401 

liistory,    Method  of   studying 30 

Independence,  Manly 19 

Jackson,  Professor  James,   Practical  joke  on 15 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Advocated   adoption  of  the  United   States  Consti- 
tution      27 

Jenkins,   Charles  J 106,  in,  413 

Johnson,   Andrew,   Repudiates  the  Sherman-Johnson  Convention   of 

1865,  after  surrender  of  Confederate  army 288 

Johnson,    Herschel  V.,  Elected  Governor ill 

Appoints    Stephens   counsel   for  Georgia  in   controversy    with 

Alabama 122 

Speech  at  Macon 223 

Stephens  favors  his  election  to  United  States  Senate    ....  352 

Letter  to  editor 397 

Letter  of  condolence  to  A.  H.  S 402 


428  ANALYTICAL   INDEX. 

Johnson,  James 223 

Johhson,  Sam.,  First  reporter  of  parliamentary  debates 102 

Johnston,  Malcolm 354 

Johnston,    Mark 22 

Johnston,  R.  M.,  Personal  relations  with  Stephens io7 

Law-partnership,  //>.  :    Reminiscences  of  Stephens     .    .    .  177,   255 

Lamar,  A.  R.,    Remarks  in  State  convention  on  occasion  of  Stephens' 

death 419 

Lane,  A.  J.,  Letter  to 244 

Lewis,    M.  W.,    Reminiscences  of  Stephens 390 

Lies,  Best  way  to  avoid  telling  ''•modest"  ones 248 

Lindsay,  John,  Character  of 4 

Lindsay,    Matilda,    Mother  of  Linton,  her  character 4 

Longfellow,    Marian  Adele,  Tribute  to  memory  of  Stephens    ....  423 

Longstreet,  A.  B.,  In  the  pulpit 32 

Locusts,  Periodical  appearance  and  multitude  of 39 

Lumpkin,  Joseph  Henry 51,  222 

His  opinion  of  Stephens  as  a  judge  and  jurist 227 

Pleasant  supper-table,  passage  with 228 

Lumpkin,    Samuel,    Reminiscences  of  Stephens,  and  estimate  of  his 

powers   as  an  advocate 359 

Lundy,  William,   Reminiscences  of  Stephens  in  his  college  life     .    .  12 

Lynch-Law,  pro  and  con 196,  200 

Lyon,   R.  F 413 

McCay,  H.  K 409 

McDonald,  Charles  J 106,    164 

Madison,  James,    Advocacy  of  adoption  of  the  Constitution  ....       27 
Meteorological  Phenomenon,    Description  of  remarkable  one,  in  1840     23 

Montgomery,  W.  W 409 

Moot-courts 68,  69,  75,  88,     89 

Nomenclature,  Mistaken  or  misapplied,  as  to  dogs 251 

To  men '.     252 

To  measures 281,   349 

Orphanage,   Sensibility  excited    by  it 83 

Olin,  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  at  University  of  Geor- 
gia, and  method  of  teaching 3^ 

Sermon  at  Washington 59 

Orr,  G.  J 13 

Palmer,  Rev,  Dr,  B,  M.,  Fast-day  sermon  at  Milledgeville    .    .    254,   255 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX.  429 

Peace,  Terms  on  which  to  restore 271 

Petigru,  James  L.,  Anecdote  of 176 

Phi-Kappa  Society II 

Pierce,  Bishop  G.  F.,  Fast-day  sermon  at  Milledgeville 254 

Witticism  of 359 

Pierce,  George  F.,  junior,    Resolutions  commemorative  of  Stephens, 

offered  by,  in  State   Democratic  convention 417 

Remarks  thereon 418 

Platform,  State  Democratic  of  1870,  drafted  by  Stephens 315 

Politicians,  The  enemies  of  mankind 104 

Pottle.  E.  II 10 

Tribute  to  memory  of  Stephens 398 

President,    Loss  of  the  steamer,  marvelous  incident 95 

Mills'  conjecture  as  to  the  cause,  //'. 

Pretenders,   Their  chief  frailty,  excess 252 

Punishments,  Necessary  evils,  but  not  designed 78 

Rhetoric,    Method  of  studying  and  use  of 33 

Religious  impressions 25 

Sentiments 289 

Opinion  of  religious  organizations 301 

Riot  among  students  and  citizens,  at  Athens,  animadversions  on     .    .  39 

« 

Salter,  Dr.  R.  II 304 

Letter  to 354 

Letter  of  condolence  from 404 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  Compared  with  Bulwer 25,  250,  251 

Secession,  Opposes  the  policy 241 

Not    unconstitutional 285 

Sims,  Robert 235 

Smith,  T.  J.,  Letters  to 323,  356 

Social  Compact,   Significance  of 283 

Speeches  at  Atlanta 368 

At   Milledgeville 287 

Defense  before  United  States  commissioner  at  Macon    ....  331 

vSpring  of  the  year,  Influence  of,  on  health  of  men  and  plants     ...  22 
State   Democratic  Convention,    Proceedings  on   occasion  of  Stephens' 

death 417 

Stephens,  Aaron  G 3,  5 

Stephens,  Alexander,  The  paternal  grandfather  of  Linton,  his  char- 
acter, etc I,  2 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  Birth 3 

Guardian  of  Linton 8 

Letters  to  Linton  during  his  college-life 17,  48 


43°  ANALYTICAL    INDEX. 

Stephens,  Alexander  II. — (Continued.) 

Account  of  Whig  national  convention  of  1844 49 

Dr.  Olin 59 

Letters 62,  65 

Routine  of  a  busy  congressman's  life   in    1844 67 

Letters  to  Linton  while  a  law-student  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia   ....    69,  71,   75,  79,  85,  86,  87,  88,  90,  91,  93,  94,  96 
Opinion  of  the  "  Whig  Exposition,"  drawn  up  by  Linton    .    .  96 

May-Bradley  affair  in  Washington 97 

Party  organizations 98 

Supposed  understanding  between  Seward   and  one  of  Taylor's 

cabinet  ministers 99 

Coalition  of  Northern  Whigs  and  Free-soilers loo 

Dr.  Johnson  first  reported  parliamentary  debate,  and  wrote  re- 
ported speech  of  Pitt  which  overthrew  Walpole's  ministry  in 

1740 101,     102 

Politicians,  the  enemies  of  mankind 104 

Letter  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Stephens 126 

On   Linton  entering  military   service  of  Confederacy     ....     242 
Presiding  sense  of  duty,  and  perfect  submission  to  will  of  Provi- 
dence     243 

Letter  from  Washington  in    1866,  reception  there,  (irant,  An- 
drew Johnson,  Sir  Frederick  Bpuce,  Burlingame,  etc.    .    .    .     293 

Napoleon's   Qvsar 298,   299 

Letter  from  Philadelphia,  apprehensive  of  success  of  his  work 

on  "War  between  the  States'' 305 

Letter  from  Springfield,  Johnson-impeachment 307 

Law-partnership 309 

Severe  injury  from  a  fall  in  1869 309 

Terminations  of  certain  Fnglish  words 309,   310 

Linton's   Macon  speech 347 

Stephens,  Andrew  H.,    Father  of  Linton,  character,  etc 2,        3 

Stephens,  Catharine  1! 4,        5 

Stephens,  John    1 4 

Stephens,  Linton,  Birth 4 

Patrimony 7 

First  teacher,  master    Strange 7 

Second  teacher,  master  Rullard 7 

Prepared  for  college  by  Fouche 8 

Filters   University  of  Georgia to 

Graduated 10 

Letter  to  A.   II.  S.,  Opinion  of  Judge  Longstreet  in  the  pulpit,     32 

Visits  Washington  City 48 

Reads  law  under  Toombs 48 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX.  431 

Stephens,  Lin  ton — (Continued.) 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S 50,  52 

Enters  law-school  at  University  of  Virginia 48 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S.  while  a  law-student    .    .  55,  62,  63,  65,  69, 

72,  73,  76,  77,  79,  81,  82,  83 

Receives  diploma 89 

Enters  law-school  at  Cambridge 89 

Admitted   to   the   bar 91 

Rapid   rise  in   profession,  first  case 91 

Partnership  with  Bird g2 

Elected  to  the  Legislature 92 

Prefers  nomination  of  Taylor  to  that  of  Clay 93 

Supports   "compromise  measures"  of  1850 106 

Constitutional   Union   party 106 

Supports  Cobh  for  Governor 106 

Supports  the  Webster-Jenkins  Presidential  ticket 106 

Marriage 107 

Removes  to  Hancock 107 

Law-partnership   with  Johnston 107 

Middle  Georgia  bar 108 

Letters  to  Johnston 108,  109 

Elected  to  Georgia  Senate lit 

Supports  Jenkins  for  Governor ill 

Resolutions  on    Nebraska  question 112 

Family  correspondence 113,  115 

Death  of  infant  daughter 115 

Appreciation   of  Addison 115 

On    Know-Nothing  platform  of  1855 116 

On  the  party 118 

Opinion   of  the  Stephens-Campbell  debate  on   "Georgia  and 

Ohio" 118,  121 

Appointed  counsel  for  Georgia  in   controversy  with  Alabama,  122 

Nominated  for  Congress 123 

Supports  the  Buchanan-Breckinridge  nomination '.  124 

Delegate  to  National  Democratic  Convention  at  Cincinnati     .  124 
Incident  at    Senator  Toombs'   complimentary   banquet    to    the 

Georgia  delegation 124 

Death  of  his  wife 125 

Second  nomination  for  Congress 127 

Governor  Brown 127 

Douglas  and  the   Kansas  Lecompton  Constitution 129 

His  charities 134 

Rejection  of  Kansas'  admission 137 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S 139,  141 


432  ANALYTICAL    INDEX. 

Stephens,  Linton — [Continued.) 

To  Johnston 142 

To  A.  H.  Stephens  on   Kansas  Conference   bill,  Winter   Davis' 

speeeh 146,    148 

Declining  a  third  nomination  for  Congress 149 

Outrages  by    British  ships 150 

Recreation  tour  to    Northwest 152 

Sympathy  for  Douglas  in  his  Senatorial  contest  with  Lincoln    .     154 

Letter  to  Johnston 155 

Sleeplessness 160 

Visit   to  Washington 162 

Letters    to  Johnston 162,    163 

Appointed  Associate  Justice  of  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia    .    .     164 

Judge  Bleckley's  estimate  of  him  as  a  judge 165,    174 

Letter  to  Johnston     .    .    . 175 

Letter  to  his  three  eldest  daughters 189 

Letters  relating  to  domestic  matters 193,   206 

Letter  to  Harris  on  miracles 210 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S 214,   216 

Decision  in  Jones'  case 217,    218 

Harris  as  a  judge  and  man 219 

Separation  of  families  of  negro  slaves 229 

Combination  of  Douglas  and    Bell    parties  to  defeat  election  of 

Lincoln 2  }o 

Resigns  his  seat  on  Supreme  Court  bench 2}i 

General  regret 252 

Critique  on   A.  II.  S.'s   version  of  "stoning  Stephen"     .    .    .     232 

Part  in  Presidential  campaign  of  1860 233 

Letter  to  Johnston    thereon 2,3 

To  A.  II.   S.   on   same  subject 234 

To  A.  II.  S.  on  secession 237,    239 

A  co-operationist,  delegate    to  State  Convention  of  1861,  sep- 
arate State   action,  etc 240 

Opposes   immediate    secession,    but   yields   to    will    of  majority 

after  passage  of  ordinance 241 

Resolutions  favoring  State  unity 241,    242 

Enlists  in    military   service  of  Confederacy,  elected   lieutenant- 
colonel  Fifteenth  Georgia  Infantry 242 

Resigns 242 

Declines  colonelcy  of  regiment 24^ 

Opposes   conscription 245 

Letter  to  ].  A.  Stewart  on  conscription,  etc 245 

Letter  to  A.  II.  S.,  silence,  best  way  to  avoid  telling    "modest 
lies" 248 


ANALYTICAL    INDEX.  433 

Stephens,  Linton — (Continued.) 

Letter  to  Mary  Grier 254 

To  A.  II.  S.,  Opposition  to  habeas  corpus  suspension    .    .  255,   258 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S 259,   268 

•  Supplies  to  destitute  in  sections  overrun  by  Federal  army  .  .  269 
Opposition  to  State  Indorsement  of  Confederate  debt  ....  269 
Letter  of  advice  to  his  young  friend,  Alfred  Alfriend  .  .  .  273 

Letters  to  A.  H.  S 278,    281 

Extract  from  speech   opposing  granting  plenary  powers  to  the 

Governor 287 

Epitome  of  religious  faith 289,   301 

Victim  to  dyspepsia 289,   291 

Letter  to  Barnett 295 

Method   of  reading  an   author 296 

Death  of  his  dog    "  Pompey  " 297 

Epitaph  for  the  dog  "  Rio  "    -. 298 

Fondness  for  dogs  and  horses,  (Note) 298 

Visits  his  brother  at  Fort  Warren 304 

His  second   marriage 304 

Presidential  contest  of  1868,  Chase,  Pendleton,  Davis,  ct  al.    .     307 

Letter  to  Judge    Harris 308 

Meaning  of  termination  of  certain    English  words 310 

To  A.  H.  S.  on  adjournment  of  Superior  Court  of  Richmond 

county i    .    .    .    .     311 

Bledsoe  as  an  author 312 

Coalition  between  Democrats  and  Liberal  Republicans     ...     314 

Georgia  Democratic  platform  of  1870 315 

Chosen  chairman  State    Executive  Committee 315 

Resigns 316 

Letters  on  the  subject  to  Crawford 316,   323 

To  T.  J.  Smith 323 

To  A.  II.  S.,   Policy  of  Democratic  party 327 

Collision  with  Dr.  Brown  on  election  day,  correspondence  and 

adjustment 328,   329 

Arrested  for  alleged  violation  of  Enforcement  act,  so-called    .    329 

Speech  at   Macon  in  his  own  defense 331 

Committed,  but  grand  jury  ignore  the  bill 346 

Letter  to  Dr.  White,    "blood  money" 348 

To  Fielder 349 

To  Fit/.patrick,  hint  to  a  young  lawyer 352 

Letter  to  Pottle  on  senatorial  candidature 352 

To  Barnett,  recommending  Malcolm  Johnston 354 

To  A.  H.  S.,   death  of  B.  T.  Harris 354 

To   Dr.  Salter,  detailing  mishap 354 

To  A.  H.  S.,    "  new-departurists  " 357 


434  ANALYTICAL    INDEX. 

Stephens,  Lin  ton — (Con  tinned.) 

To  A.  II.  S.,  Voorhees'  speech 358 

To  A.   II.  S.,    defense  of  Croley,  witticisms  of  Bishop   Pierce,    358 

To  A.  II.  S 364 

Failing  health '.     366 

Last  political   speech 368 

Last  sickness  and  death 383 

Burial 384 

Personal  appearance,  tastes,  habits,  etc 386 

Stevens,  Rev.  C.  W.,  (Note) 204 

Stewart,  J.  A.,   Letter  to,  on  conscription,  etc 245 

Stiles,  Rev.   Dr.   ].  C.,  As  a  pulpit  orator 224,    225 

Strange,  Master,  First  teacher  of  Linton 7 

Streaks,  Things   run    in 158 

Story,  Joseph 59 

Notions  of  work,  and  how  to  work,  and  how  to  recreate  ...       63 

Anecdote  of 71 

His  mess  at  Washington  in  1844 89 

Social  character— no   Federalist — death,  (Note) 89,      90 

Style,  Importance  of  good,  in  writing 44 

Supreme  Court.  Proceedings  in,  occasioned  by  death  of  Stephens  .    .     409 
Thomas,    James,    Father-in-law  of  Stephens     .    .     107,  137,   150,  152, 

'55'   '59>  177>  '83,   184,  200,  208,  214,  230,    237 
Thomas,  T.    W 132,  141,   143,  144,  145,   242 

Toombs,  Robert,  Legal  preceptor  of  Linton 48 

At  Newark 51 

Witty  answer  to  Burt 93 

Opinion  of  "  Whig  Exposition  " 96 

Position  on  Central-American   question 135 

On  Lecompton  Constitution    .    .     137,   150,  207,  220,  230,  237, 

238,  239,  240,  260,  264,  265 
Chairman  of  Supreme  Court  committee  to  report  resolutions  on 

occasion  of  Stephens'  death 409 

Trammell,  L.  N 288 

Tucker,  Henry   St.  George 48,  56,  64,  69,  70,  71 

His  opinion   of  Hamilton 81 

Universalists,    Doctrine  of,  criticized 20 

Warner,  Hiram 409 

Watson,  A.  R.,   Poetical  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Stephens     ....  424 

Webster,  Daniel,  Speech  at  Baltimore  in  1844 50 

Candidate  for  the  Presidency 106 

Whig   party,    Disruption   of 116 

Wilson,  Henry,  Kindly  offices  of,  to  A.   II.  S.  while  prisoner  of  State 

at  Fort    Warren 304 

Wright,  Augustus  R 235 

Yancey,  William  1 68,  79,  238,  240 


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